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Reasons Glory " 
THE LATE EMPEROR OF CHINA 

From an original Chinese Painting .formerly in the possession of M' 'Morrison 



FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 



WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF 



THE GREAT REBELLION, 



A^TT> J± DESCRIPTION OE ST. HELENA. 



BY 

CHARLES TAYLOR, M.D., 

(FORMERLY MISSIONARY TO CHINA), 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL SOCIETY OF THE 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 



NASHVILLE, Tenn. : 
J. B. McFEREIN, PUBLISHER 

NEW YORK :— DERBY & JACKSON. 
1860. 



T^' 



\i % 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 

CHARLES TAYLOR, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of South Carolina. 



£3 (b Y3 



W. H. Tinsox, Printer & Stereotyper. 



i or 






/ 



®0 

MY VENERABLE AND BELOVED FATHER, 

DR. OLIVER SWAIN TAYLOR, 

FOR FORTY YEARS AN INSTRUCTOR OF YOUTH, 

THE POSITIONS OF HONOR AND USEFULNESS FILLED BY HUNDREDS OF HIS PUPILS 
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, CONSTITUTE THE RECORD OF HIS SUCCESS, 

girt 

TO MY HIGHLY ESTEEMED COUNSELLOR AND FRIEND, 

BISHOP JAMES OSGOOD ANDREW, 

BY WHOM I WAS ORDAINED AND SENT TO CHINA, 
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



Many, both friends and strangers, in different parts of 
the country, where I have conversed and lectured on China, 
have repeatedly urged me to make a book. I have at last 
made one, and here it is. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 

HOW WE WENT TO CHINA. 

Parting Exercises — Setting Sail — Occupations on the Ship— Sea-sick- 
ness — Sharks — Flying-Fish — Birds — Preaching — Route of Vessels 
to China — At the Equator — Cape of Good Hope — St. Paul's and 
Amsterdam— Hot Springs — Marryatt's Signals — Christmas Island — 
Straits of Sunda — Java and Sumatra — Malays, 25 

CHAPTER II. 

HOW WE REACHED CHINA. 

Anjer — Fruits — Purveyors — Banyan Tree — Dutch Fort — May lay In- 
fants — " Osmond " — Mohammedans — Shock of an Earthquake — 
Java Sea — Straits of Banca — Tin Mines — Malay Pirates — China 
Sea— Beautiful Sunsets— A " School " of Whales— Coast of China- 
Chinese Sailors and their "Junks" — a Pilot — Hong-Kong, 35 

CHAPTER III. 

HOW HONG-KONG APPEARED. 

How Great Britain came to own it — " Fragrant Streams " — British 
Dignity — Pleasant Reception— Town of Victoria— The Chinese 
Portion — " Coolies " — Foreign Buildings — The " Barracks " — The 
Church — Morrison Hill — " Happy Valley " — Morrison School — Mr. 
John Morrisey — Rev. Samuel Brown — Mr. William A. Macy — Rev- 
Charles Gutzlaff, D.D., 43 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

GOING TO CANTON. 

Leaving Hong-Kong — A Fellow PasseDger — Robbers — Dr. and Mrs. 
Sexton — Scenery along up " Pearl River " — Pagodas— Tombs — The 
11 Bogue " or " Bocca Tigris " — Forts — Wharapoa — Boat-women— 
Boats — War-j unks — Flower-boats — More Pagodas — " Fan-kwei " — 
River Population— Proper Name of " Canton" — Appearance of the 
City — Foreign " Gardens," and *' Factories " — Peripatetic Mer- 
chants, Artisans, Tradesmen, and Mountebanks, 52 

CHAPTER V. 

SOMETHING ABOUT CANTON AND AMOY. 

New Friends — Seamen's Bethel — Hospitals— Drs. Parker and Hobson 
— Leang Afa — Howqua's Gardens — General Description of Chinese 
Ornamental Gardens — Flowers and Shrubbery — Distorting and 
Dwarfing Trees — Honan Temple — Idols — Priests — " Sacred Pigs " 
— " did " and " New China Streets "— " Hog Lane "—Execution 
Ground — A Typhoon — Return to Hong-Kong— Up the Coast — 
Headwinds — Amoy — Opium Vessels — Fishing Boats — Batteries — 
11 Queen Bess " — Native City — Ku-lang-su — Missionaries — Islands 
— Mouth of the Yang-tsz-kiang — " Child of the Ocean," 62 

CHAPTER VI. 

DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. 

River Hwang-pu — Appearance of the Country along its Banks — 
Foreign Town — Pleasant Reception — Mission Buildings — English 
Church — London Mission Premises — Yang-king-pang — Streets — 
French Consulate— Graves — Coffins — Geomancy — Repositories for 
Conine d-bodies— " Baby Towers " — City Wall— Gates— Coins — 
Currency— Buildings — Streets — Sewers — Offal — Shops — Pawnbro- 
kers — Various Trades — Facilities for Missionary Work, 75 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE HOUSES THEY LIVE IN. 
Materials used and Manner of Building — Floors — Oyster-shell Win- 
dows — Courts — Walls — Doors — Ornamental Work — Furniture — 
Idols — Ornaments — Wells — A Residence Procured — Servants — 



CONTENTS. IX 

Cooking — Learning to Talk — Native Politeness— Civilities — Mode 
of Serving Tea — Smoking Tobacco— Opium — Snuff — Forms of Sa- 
lutation, * 90 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CHINESE BEGGARS AND CHINESE COSTUMES. 
Beggary — Dead Bodies — Starvation — Benevolence of Foreigners — 
Gipsies — Extreme Suffering — Drowned — Loathsomeness and Filth 
— Regular Organization — • ' Beggar-King " — Regulations — Punish- 
ments — Beating — Cutting off the Queue — Description of the dif- 
ferent Articles of Dress — Mode of Dressing the Hair — The Queue — 
Headbands — Hats and Caps — Long Nails — Use of Long Sleeves — 
Materials of Clothing — A Novel Thermometer — Winter Clothing — 
Boots and Shoes — Mode of indicating Official Rank — Yellow, the 
Imperial Color — Mark of Respect to Age — Binding the Feet of 
Females — Origin of the Custom, 99 

CHAPTER IX. 

CHINESE NEW YEAR. 

Worship in Temples — Costume — Gloves — Furs — Amusing Appear- 
ance of Children — " City Guardian's Temple " — Being taken for an 
Idol — Temple of Confucius — Burning Articles for the use of the 
Dead — Manner of Mourning — Immense number of Graves — Gene- 
ral Appearance of surrounding Country — Tenanted Coffins kept 
in Dwellings — Coffins left unburied in the Fields — A Settlement of 
Beggars — Their Condition — Tricks to excite Compassion — The 
Blind — A Native little Girl — Religious Instruction — Discourage- 
ments — Encouragements, 113 

CHAPTER X. 

WHAT AND HOW THEY EAT — MARRIAGE. 

Vegetable Productions — Animal Food— Cattle — Poultry — "Shanghai 
Fowls " — Artificial Egg-hatching — Raising Ducks — Fishing — Eating 
Rats, Puppies, etc, — "Bird-nest Soup"— Shark Fins— Fruits — Pecu- 
liarities of Oranges and Persimmons — Other Fruits — "Japan 
Plum "—Nuts— Sugar— Modes of Cooking— Use of Oils— " Hen-Egg 
Cakes "—Abhorrence of Butter and Cheese— Native Names for 
these Articles— Milk— Mode of Eating— " Chopsticks "—Ideas 



X CONTENTS. 

of Politeness — A Chinese Feast — Great Number of Courses — An 
Intoxicating Drink — Manufacture of Salt, a Government Monopoly 
— Smuggling — Mode of Contracting Marriages — A " Go-between " 
— Betrothal — Marriage Ceremonies — Amusements, 126 

CHAPTER XI. 

NOTIONS OF MEDICINE AND DISEASE — PUNISHMENTS — 
PAU-SHAN. 

Medical Practice — Native Ideas of Medicines and Anatomy — Diseases 
— Smallpox — Singular mode of Inoculation — Letters — Chinese 
Names and Titles — Modes of Punishment — Beating — The " Cangue" 
— Great Severity and Barbarity — City Prison — " Squeezing " — The 
Wooden Cage — Modes of Capital Punishment — Beheading — Stran- 
gulation — Modes of Suicide — Its Object — Flaying Alive — Cutting to 
Pieces — A Trip to Pau-shan — Description of the City — High em- 
bankment — Battery — Cannon — Scene of a Battle —Chinese Bravery 
— Deification of a General after his Death, 139 

CHAPTER XII. 

PREPARATION OF TEA-— AGRICULTURE — FUEL. 

Modes of preparing " Green Tea" and " Black Tea" — Prussian Blue 
— Personal Observation — Signification of the different Names of Teas 
— Agricultural Implements — Two Varieties of Oxen — Culture of 
Rice — Mode of Manuring — Floating Gardens — Fuel — Wood — Coal 
— Hand and Foot Stoves — How Beds are warmed in Winter — 
The " Bamboo " or Cane — Its many Uses — Sedans — How made — 
Funeral Processions — Customs on such occasions, 151 

CHAPTER XIII. 

FEAST OF LANTERNS — FAMINE — FUNERAL RITES. 

Tower of Lanterns— Fireworks — The " Dragon Lantern " — Origin of 
the Holiday — Superstitious Practices on that Day — Arrival of my 
Colleague at Shanghai— Famine — Extreme Suffering — Charity of 
Foreign Merchants — Worship of Ancestors — Rites for the Dead — 
Modes of burial— Ancient Tombs — " Mass for the Dead " — Change 
of Residence, , 161 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Passages from my Journal — Birds— An Old Grave — A Liberal Allow- 
ance — Life on Boats — A Drowned Boy — Death of our Babe — Rev. 
Dr. Medhurst — A Trip into the Country — Monumental Tablets — 
Preaching and Tract Distribution — Death of the Emperor Tau- 
Kwang — "Reason's Glory" — Accession of Hien-Foong — Death of 
Empress Dowager — Beautiful Sentiments, 115 

CHAPTER XV. 

EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 

Building our Houses — Chapels— Schools — Birds — Tracts — Catechism 
— Medical Practice — Book Distribution — Conversation with an Idol- 
ater — A Sunday's Work — A Day in my Chapel — Synopsis of a Tract 
— Another Sunday — An Accident and Death — Removal of a Tumor 
from a Man's Nose — The " Tea-Gardens " — A Trip into the Country 
— A Crooked Stream — Mode of Planting Cotton — Preaching — A 
"Wheelbarrow Ride, 187 

CHAPTER XVI. 

CHINESE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS INVENTIONS — ODDITIES. 

Character of the Language — Number of Characters — Radicals — Illus- 
tration — Native Dictionaries — "Four Books" of Confucius — Other 
Classics and Writers — Literature — Spoken Dialects — "Pidjin-Eng- 
lish " — Schools — Singular Mode of Studying and Reciting — School 
Text-Books—Manner of Writing— Of Book-Making— Printing — Gun- 
powder — Mariners' Compass — Chinese History — Their Ideas of other 
Countries — A Native "Map of the World" — Amusing Absurdities — 
Arithmetic — Book-Keeping — Literary Degrees — Corruption — Filial 
Respect — Seat of Intelligence — "Peking Gazette"— Postal Arrange- 
ment— Mode of Reckoning Time—" Time-Sticks," 205 

CHAPTER XVII. 

CHINESE MILITARY — "ALL SOULS' DAY." 

A Military Review — Their Uniform — Martial Music — Archers — An 
Incident — Fire- Arms — Match-locks — Jinjals — A Chastisement — 
Small Arms— Shields — Gymnastics — Rewards — "All Soul's Day " — 
Its Origin — Procession of Idols — They take an Airing in Sedans — 
Burning Gilt Paper to provide the Dead with Money — Address to 
the Multitude, 217 



XI 1 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

INFANTICIDE — CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS RELIGIONS 

THEATRICALS OPPOSITES. 

Infanticide — Causes — Extent — Foundling Hospital— Native Dispensary 
— Charity Schools — Three Forms of Idolatry — Confucius and his 
System — Mencius — Tauism — Buddhism — Time and Mode of its In- 
troduction into China — Tenets — A Recluse — Ideas of a Future 
State — Resemblance to Romanism — Various Deities — Pagodas — 
Lung-hwa-tah — Native Theatricals — Odd Differences, 227 



CHAPTER XIX. 

INCIDENTS. 

A Foundling — Air-Castle Building — " Reckoning without the Host" — 
Disappointment — A Boat-Trip to Tsayn-so— Inundation — The City 
— Preaching and Tract Distribution — "Bread on the Waters," 240 



CHAPTER XX. 



Chinese New Year again— Making Calls — Sending Presents — Fire- 
works — Kitchen gods — Visit from Schools — A benevolent Mer- 
chant — His Almoner — Spinning — An incident — Gratitude — Difficul- 
ties — Hope — Probable destiny of Shanghai — Drought — Procession 
of Rain Dragons — Chinese Theory of Rain — Proclamation — Solem- 
nities — Crops, 250 



CHAPTER XXI. 

A TRIP TO BU-CHAU- 

Taking boat— Disguise— The " Gem Hill City "— " Pheasant Mound " 
— Variety of Junks and Boats — Grain Junks — Timber — Canals — 
Bridges — Temples — Pagodas — " Great Lake " — " Lion Hills " — 
" Hill Pools"—' 4 Tiger Den Hill "— " Thousand Men Rock"— Beau- 
tiful Shops and Streets— Return to Shanghai, 261 



CONTENTS. Xiii 

CHAPTER XXII. 

SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 
Worship of Ancestors — Paper Money — Offerings to the Dead — A 
Wailing Widow— Shallow Grief— The " God of Wealth"— Offerings 
to it— Its Temple— " Man's Birthday "—The "Five Grains"— 
"Fuel" — "Rice" — " Mandarin's Day" — Influx of Paupers — " Open- 
ing the Seals" — Modes of asserting Innocence and Detecting Guilt 
— Forms of Oaths — Gods lose their Reputation — Practice of Weigh- 
ing annually on the first day of Summer — Departure of Family 
for the United States, 272 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

JOURNEY TO NAN-KING, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF CHINA. 

Signification of the Name — My Chinese Costume — Su-chau— Grand 
Canal — Custom House — Bridges — Boats — City of Vu-sih — Hills — 
Novel mode of Fishing — Fishing Cormorants — Grain-junks — City 
of Chang-chau — City of Tan-yang — Adventure with a Barber — 
Wheelbarrow ride— Face of Country — City of Chin-kiang-fu — Kin- 
shan, or Golden Island — Cast iron Pagoda, 285 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

JOURNEY TO NAN-KING CONTINUED. 

Another Wheelbarrow Ride — Clear Water — A Night's Lodging — 
Summer Palace of a former Emperor — Stone Road — Modes of 
Conveyance — Approach to Nan-king — Tomb of an Emperor — An- 
cient City— Gates — Tartar City — Streets — Ox-cart — Site of Impe- 
rial Palace — Public Offices — The celebrated "Porcelain Tower" — 
A native description of it — A Donkey-ride — Face of Country — 
Terracing Hills— Modes of Irrigation, 298 

CHAPTER XXV. 

WHAT THEY THINK OF ECLIPSES AND EARTHQUAKES. 

Native Astronomers — The Popular Theory — " Sun-Eating" — Worship 
of the Monster — Noises to frighten Him — An Earthquake— Its 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Effects — Native Theory — Ceremony of "Welcoming the Spring" 
—The " Spring Ox" — Presiding Deity of the Year" — A Procession 
—"Beating the Ox"— " Welcoming the God of Joy"— A Female 
Deity — Worship — Military Evolutions — Rewards, . . 811 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE GREAT REBELLION. 

Place of Origin — Progress — Title of the Leader— Strange Doctrines 
— Knowledge of Old Testament — Anxiety of Foreigners — Arrival 
of Hon. Humphrey Marshall — Bayard Taylor — Attempt of the 
" Susquehannah " — Failure — Successful Trip of the "Hermes" 
— Sir George Bonham — Chin-kiang-fu — Grand Canal — Grain for 
Peking — Capt. Fishbourne — An Attack from the Insurgents — Arri- 
val at Nanking — Interview with the Insurgents — Their Books — A 
Second Attack — Fire returned — Return of the "Hermes" — Set out 
myself — Trip up the Yang-tsz-kiang — Appearance of the Country 
— Foo-shan — Occurrences at a Village — Our Native Assistant — 
Kiang-Yin — Pirates — Dead bodies — Burnt Junks — Running a 
Blockade — " Silver Island " — Its Temples — Destruction of Idols — 
Forlorn Priests — Timidity of Boatmen — Return to Shanghai, . . 325 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

SECOND TRIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 

New Boatmen — Run the Blockade again — Refusal of Boatmen to 
Proceed — Going Alone on Foot — A "Levee" on the River-bank — 
A Foot-path — Approach to Fortifications — Difficult Progress — Ob- 
structions — Entering the Fortress — A Strange Visitor — Appearance 
of the Insurgents — Motley Crowds — Arms and Defences — Condition 
of Chin-kiang-fu — Strange Sounds — General Lo — Awkward Mistake 
— Presenting him a Bag of Copies of the Gospels — The Costnme 
of the Soldiers — Morning Worship — Asking a Blessing — Unfortu- 
nate Coincidence — Attack by Imperialists — Suspected of being a 
Spy — Letter of General Lo — Cavalcade by Torchlight — Provisions 
— A Night on a War-Junk — Effort to remove Suspicion — Medical 
Relief— Extract from Journal, 339 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

HISTORY OF TAI-PING-WONG, THE REVOLUTIONARY 
LEADER. 

Literary Examinations at Canton — Receives a Christian Tract — Has a 
Vision — Diligent Study — Renounces Idolatry — Returns to Canton 
— Receives Instruction — Disappears — When next Heard of — Perse- 
cuted — Self-defence— Numbers Multiply — The Miau-tsz — " Triad 
Society " — Singular Proclamations-"-Fanatical Errors — Form of 
Prayer — Present Condition, 361 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

A TYFOON — THE HILLS — CAPTURE OF SHANGHAI 

INCIDENTS. 
A Tyfoon — Destruction of Property and Life — One of the Sufferers 
— A Trip to " the Hills " — Companions — Employment — " Seven 
Pearls " — " Four Streams " — Hills — Temples— Pagodas— Groves — 
Flowers and Shrubbery — A Mausoleum — A Leaning Tower — Fall 
of Shanghai — Bands of Outlaws — Murder of the Mayor — Distress 
and Alarm — Visit to the Bandit Chief — He accepts and makes pub- 
lic a Proclamation of Tai-ping-wong against Idolatry — Adventure 
with Robbers— A Brave Army, 3*72 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE VOYAGE HOMEWARD. 

Cause of leaving China — Departure in the " Torrent " — Capt. Copp 
— A Fine Run — A Terrible Tyfoon — Sea-sickness — Loss of my 
Chinese dress — Damages to the Ship — A Fellow-Passenger — Time 
for Reading — Sight of Islands — The Anambas — Splendid Sun- 
sets—Crossing the Equator— The "Doldrums" — Winged Visitors 
— Reaching Java — Duties of Ship-Surgeon — Our Sable Cook — 
— Anjer — Strait of Sunda — Boats with Supplies — Turtles — " Mouse 
Deer " — Tedious Days — Storms — Calms — The Albatross — Porpoises 
— Whales — Sharks — Coast of Africa — Cape of Good Hope — Preach- 
ing on Ship-board — Christmas-day — Sabbaths at Sea — Two Sum- 
mers in One Year — New Appearance of the Heavens — The " Ma- 
gellan Clouds"— The " Southern Cross," 383 



XVI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA — PRISON OF THE FIRST 
NAPOLEON. 

Appearance of the Island from the Sea — Batteries and Fortifications — 
"Ladder Hill" — "Pearce's Revenge" — Jamestown — the "Castle" 
— Promenade — Moat — Landing-Place — The Town — View from the 
Anchorage — "The Briars"— Ride to "Longwood" — General De- 
scriptions — Yolcanic Origin — Flowers, Shrubbery, and Trees — 
Nadoleon's Tomb— Old Sally— "Vale of Arno "—Residence of 
Napoleon at "Longwood" — His Fishpond — "New House" — Sandy 
Bay Valley — " Plautation House " — Country Church — Return to 
Town — Rev. Dr. Bertram — Mission Chapel — Second Ride into 
the Country — " Francis' Plain " — "Rose Bower" — Astronomers — 
" Knollcombe " — Mission Cemetery — Return to Town — Sail from 
the Island, 394 



FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

CHAPTER I. 

HOW WE WENT TO CHINA. 

Parting Exercises — Setting Sail — Occupations on the Ship — Sea-sick- 
ness — Sharks — Flying-Fish — Birds — Preaching — Route of Vessels 
to China — At the Equator — Cape of Good Hope — St. Paul's and 
Amsterdam — Hot Springs — Marryatt's Signals — Christmas Island — 
Straits of Sunda — Java and Sumatra — Malays. 

We sailed from Boston on a gloomy Monday after- 
noon, the 24th of April, 1848. It was cloudy, and 
a raw, chilling wind was blowing from the north- 
east. Farewell religious services were performed on 
the deck of the little ship " Cleone," as she still lay 
alongside the wharf. The " Missionary Hymn " was 
sung, an earnest address delivered, and we all kneeled 
in prayer on the deck of the ship, with our heads un- 
covered to the sky. It was a solemn hour. Sad 
farewells were spoken, though none of our immediate 
relatives were present, but there were several friends 
who had shown us much attention and kindness dur- 
ing our sojourn of two weeks in Boston, while wait- 
ing for the ship. Ardent wishes for a safe and 
pleasant voyage were uttered ; Christian hearts beat 

2 



20 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

with a sympathy which found expression mostly in 
looks and tears — words were few. The ship was 
unfastened from her moorings ; the ropes rattled 
through the pulleys ; the sails flapped angrily in the 
wind, while the sailors pulled them to their proper 
places, accompanying their exertions with a lively 
song, the chorus of which was, u Yo-heave-O, Yo- 
heave-O." Soon we were out in the harbor, and 
speeding on our way, while handkerchiefs were 
waved from the shore, and from the ship in reply, as 
long as they could well be seen. By and by the city 
disappeared, then the forts at the entrance to the 
harbor, then the islands ; and finally, nothing could 
be seen, save a long, dim outline of the mainland, 
like a dark, blue cloud in the distant horizon. We 
gazed and gazed upon it long and sadly, until at last, 
our loved native land — never before so tenderly 
loved as then — receded from the view — of one of us, 
forever* I strained my eyes till they ached, to 
catch one more glimpse of it, but all in vain. It 
seemed to me almost like dying ; for at that time I 
little expected ever to see that land again. I was 
keenly alive to the sacrifice I was making, but as I 
turned and went down into the cabin, I said to 
myself: "This is all for Christ;" and then I was 
comforted and content ; for it was but very little, 
after all, for Him who had done and suffered so much 
for me. 

Our cabin was about ten by fourteen feet square, 
and seven feet high, with a sleeping apartment — - 
called, by way of irony, I suppose, a state-room — on 

* Mrs. Mary Jane Jenkins, the wife of my colleague, Rev. Ben- 
j amin Jenkins, who died on the voyage back, four years after. 



HOW WE WENT TO CHINA. 27 

each side. These state-rooms were six feet long, 
four feet wide, and of the same height as the cabin. 
Each room had two berths, or shelves, for sleeping 
on, with pieces of plank about seven inches wide, on 
the outer side to keep you from falling out. The 
berths were two feet wide, which left you but two 
feet by six for washing and dressing. Such was our 
bedroom for four mortal months — my wife and my- 
self occupying each a berth, and our infant, of six 
months, the space on the floor. My colleague, with 
his wife and two children, stowed themselves away 
(as the sailors would say) in the room opposite, of 
about the same dimensions. His two eldest boys 
had one of the three state-rooms that were on each 
side of the dining-cabin, on the deck, to which a 
flight of steps led from the centre of our cabin. 

"We had a storm during the first night, to start 
upon, and the next morning found us all, except the 
youngest children, terribly sea-sick. Infants scarcely 
ever experience this malady, from which so few older 
persons are exempt. Several of us hardly left our 
berths, except for a few minutes at a time, for some 
days. "We were not able to go to the table, though 
fortunately we required but little food ; and yet our 
ill-natured captain grumbled at having to send us 
even that. He even had the carpet taken up, and 
left us on the cold bare floor. There we lay helpless, 
all huddled together down in our diminutive cabin. 
Those horrible days and nights rise up before me 
now, as about the gloomiest I have ever passed. 
After a week or two, however, we all recovered, the 
weather became pleasant, and we arranged things in 
our narrow quarters so as to become tolerably com- 



28 FIVE YEAR3 IN CHINA. 

fortable. The motion of the ship continued with 
greater or less violence throughout the entire voyage, 
except during calms, and sometimes then also, from 
what sea- faring men call a " ground swell ; but as we 
had passed through the initiation, we were not disagree- 
ably affected by it. In our attempts to walk, our 
movements were often precisely like those of a man 
who has been drinking freely of something stronger 
than water. It was highly amusing to see one of the 
ladies or children, sent rolling or tumbling from one 
side of the cabin to the other ; and still more amus- 
ing when, sometimes at the table, a sudden lurch of 
the ship would empty plates of soup, or dishes of 
meat and gravy, into the laps of those who happened 
at the time to be sitting on the lower side ; or, to use 
the sea-phrase, to leeward. Only a few times during 
the voyage was the sea so rough that we could not 
sit at the table. Then we sat on the floor, braced 
ourselves against the sides of the cabin, by placing 
our feet against the table legs, or something else im- 
movable, and took our food in our hands. 

"We finally became so accustomed to our condition, 
that we could read and study much of the time ; 
the ladies could sew, and chat pleasantly together ; 
and the children could play almost as merrily as on 
land, except when our cross-grained captain would 
curse them for making a noise, or for being in the 
way. He had no children of his own. Sharks were 
often seen during the voyage, following the ship. 
One day we caught a small one with a large hook, 
baited with a piece of pork. As soon as he was 
pulled in on deck, the sailors, who always entertain 
the most bitter animosity against these terrible mon- 



HOW WE WENT TO CHINA. 29 

sters, by whom so many of their comrades have lost 
life or limb, plunged their knives into him with 
hearty spitefulness. Flying-fish were frequently seen, 
and occasionally one would fly upon the deck of our 
ship. They are about the size of herrings, having the 
lateral fins elongated, so as to become wings. We 
also had the company of birds throughout the voyage. 
Sea-gulls, " Mother Gary's chickens," cape pigeons, 
and albatrosses were seen, some or other of them 
flying about the ship every day. 

On the second or third Sunday after leaving Bos- 
ton, we asked permission of the captain to have pub- 
lic service on the open deck of the ship, at which the 
sailors might be present. He consented, rather re- 
luctantly. All the sailors who were " off duty " 
attended, dressed in their best attire, and seemed 
interested, or at least gratified. The first-mate was 
the most profane man I ever heard : nor did he re- 
gard the presence of the ladies. He attended the 
preaching but once, I think ; and the captain per- 
haps twice. On all subsequent occasions, they sat a 
little distance from us, around the corner of the cabin, 
reading novels or conversing. Finding that the ser- 
vice was so manifestly disagreeable and annojdng to 
the captain, we thought it prudent, after a few times, 
to discontinue it. 

Gentle reader, if you are curious to know the gene- 
ral direction pursued by our vessel in order to reach 
China, just take a map, and trace a line from Boston, 
directly eastward, till you bring it near the Azores, or 
Western Islands. In that vicinity we fall in with the 
northeast trade- winds, which, as you know, blow con- 
stantly from that direction toward the equator. As 



30 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

you approach the equator, these winds become lighter 
aud lighter, and finally cease altogether. Then you 
have calms for several days, and sometimes weeks. 
During these, scarce a breath of air visits your burn- 
ing cheek, night nor day. At noon the sun is exactly 
vertical ; and if you stand, at that hour, on the 
scorching deck, your form does not cast the least sha- 
dow. Often, the ocean — as far the eye can reach, 
that is, till the water is merged into the sky, in the 
far-away horizon — is like a " sea of glass," and reflects 
the rays of the tropical sun " as it were a sea of glass 
mingled with fire." What with drifting, patience, 
and occasional puffs of wind, you finally get across 
this enchanted region, and keep on the course you 
took from the Azores toward the coast of South 
America. We came within two hundred miles of 
Brazil, and vessels sometimes go near enough to 
see it, even while bound for China. Thence, still fol- 
lowing the route of prevailing winds, you steer south 
of east, for the Cape of Good Hope. Ships going 
eastward, seldom go within sight of the Cape, but 
keep about two degrees to the southward, to avoid 
the adverse winds and currents that sweep around it 
from the east. When off the Cape, and one hundred 
and fifty miles south of it, we found, as is usual at 
that season of the year, which, though toward the 
last of June, is always midwinter in those latitudes — 
strong westerly winds. Borne on by these, at the 
rate of two hundred or more miles a day, for some 
three weeks, directly eastward, we find — near the 
coast of Australia — the southeast " trades," as (navi- 
gators call the trade-winds,) and then change our 
course to due north, steering for the western extre- 



HOW WE WENT TO CHINA. 31 

mity of the island of Java. Remember, that in all 
this time — about three months — we had seen no land 
since leaving our native shores. In the Indian Ocean, 
about midway between the Cape of Good Hope and 
Australia, are two little solitary islands — St. Paul's 
and Amsterdam. Navigators who have visited them 
tell us, that on one there is a bold spring of 
boiling water, gushing from the rocks, and so near 
the shore, that they have caught fish from the sea, 
with a rod and line, and without moving a step have 
thrown them over and cooked them in the spring, 
before taking them from the hook. These islands 
are often seen by vessels in passing, but as the day 
on which we sailed by them was foggy and cloudy, 
we missed a sight for which our hearts longed, and 
for which our eyes were eagerly strained — a sight of 
much-wished-for land once more. 

Almost ninety days — long and wearisome days and 
nights — had passed over our heads since we left Bos- 
ton. It was a tiresome thing to see the sun come up 
out of the ocean, pass over our heads, and go down 
into the ocean again, for days, and weeks, and months 
— to see nothing but sea and sky, and sky and sea. 
The clouds above and the water around us, formed 
our scenery, now and then relieved by a passing ship, 
that would sometimes be just visible for a few hours 
in the distance. Occasionally we would fall in with 
one sailing in the same direction with ourselves, and 
would be in her company for several days. Some- 
times we would come near enough one to the other, 
to enable us, with the help of the spy-glass, to ascer- 
tain to what nation she belonged, from her flag. 

There are several systems of signals by which ves- 



32 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

sels can converse, as far apart as the flags of different 
colors, which represent certain words or ideas, can be 
distinguished. Those invented by Capt. Marryatt, of 
the British navy, are in most general use. A book, 
or key of explanation, accompanies each set of flags, 
and so, communication, of course to a limited extent, 
but sufficient for all necessary purposes, becomes 
comparatively easy. They are known throughout 
the maritime world as " Marryatt's Signals." 

On the morning of the eighty-eighth day, our cap- 
tain, who was a very skillful navigator, said to us : 
" About noon to-day, if you look directly ahead, you 
will see land : it is Christmas Island ; a small island 
about a hundred miles south of the western end of 
Java." All eyes were in requisition. I sat on the 
forecastle-deck, and was the first to discover it. Sure 
enough, there it was, a dim, cloud-like line, resting on 
the distant horizon, under the clear, blue sky ; for it 
was a bright, beautiful day, in perfect keeping with 
the joyous event. A moment more, and the welcome 
cry of " Land ! land !" was ringing through the ship. 
Hands were clapped for joy, while faces were beam- 
ing and hearts were beating with an ecstasy of de- 
light. The land at first looked like a heavy mass of 
dark-blue clouds in the distance, resting on the heav- 
ing bosom of the ocean. Then it became more and 
more distinct, till at last it loomed up before us a 
high, rocky mountain islet, partly covered with a 
scanty growth of diminutive trees. We saw multi- 
tudinous flocks of birds about the island, and the 
waters near it were seen to be teeming with fish ; but 
they could not be induced to bite a hook ; probably 
because we had no fresh bait. Leaving Christmas 



HOW WE WENT TO CHINA. 33 

Island to the right, we sailed on exultingly, and be- 
fore night saw the mountainous promontory of Java. 
A storm that night prevented us from approaching 
very near, lest we should be dashed upon the rocks. 
So we " stood out to sea " again till daylight. The 
morning broke in upon us gloriously : the ship wse 
" put about," and we stood in for the shore. That 
glad day — the twenty-third day of July, in the year 
of grace eighteen hundred and forty-eight — was 
Sunday, and on its blessed morning we entered the 
Straits of Sunda, with hearts swelling with thankful- 
ness for our preservation thus far through all the 
dangers of the deep. 

There rose up grandly before us, clothed in all 
the luxuriant richness and beauty of oriental and tro- 
pical foliage, those magnificent islands — Java on the 
right and Sumatra on the left — islands, images of 
which had so often filled the day-dreams of my boy- 
hood as still retaining the gorgeous vegetation of the 
first Paradise ; nor did the reality fall far short of the 
splendid picture imagination had painted on the walls 
of memory, in the chambers of the far back, long, 
long ago. How strangely and sadly the sight of the 
first Pagans impressed me ! They were Malays. 
They came off to our ship in their dug-out canoes, 
with large, three-cornered, mat sails. They also had 
paddles, to use in case of need. The natives were of 
a dark copper color ; tall, straight, and well-propor- 
tioned. They generally wore only a piece of cotton 
cloth about the middle, and another wrapped around 
the head. They blacken their teeth by chewing betel- 
nut, for the sage reason that dogs have white teeth ! 
Some of them had procured from ships, as they fre- 

2* 



34 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

quently pass these waters, various articles of civilized 
costume ; but being ignorant as to the proper mode 
of putting them on, they often presented the most ludi- 
crous figures imaginable. One fellow had on an old 
broadcloth dress-coat next to his skin, then a dilapi- 
dated vest over that, and a shirt outside of all ; his 
legs, in the mean time, being in a state of native 
nudity. Thus attired, he and his comrades, in equally 
grotesque habiliments, paced up and down the deck 
of our vessel (for they had come on board to sell 
fruit), with as lordly an air as if they owned the 
ship. 



CHAPTER II. 

HOW WE REACHED CHINA. 

Anjer — Fruits — Purveyors— Banyan Tree— Dutch Fort— Maylay In 
fants— w Osmond " — Mohammedans— Shock of an Earthquake — 
Java Sea— Straits of Banca— Tin Mines — Malay Pirates — China 
Sea— Beautiful Sunsets— A " School " of Whales— Coast of China- 
Chinese Sailors and their " Junks "—a Pilot— Hong-Kong. 

We had anchored off Anjer — a Dutch settlement and 
military post on Java. During the two days of our 
tarrying, the natives brought large quantities of the 
finest tropical fruits to the ship, in their canoes, to 
sell or barter, as the case might be, for money or old 
clothes. Monkeys, also, " Java sparrows," birds of 
paradise, parrots, and other birds of rare and beauti- 
ful plumage, and some of sweet song, were among the 
commodities offered for sale. Some of these natives 
were regular purveyors to ships, and had small mem- 
orandum-books in which were written certificates 
from the captains whom they had supplied. These 
were not always as flattering as the holders imagined. 
They sometimes ran in this style — "If you buy any- 
thing from the bearer, watch him — he is the great- 
est rascal you ever saw, and will cheat you if he 
can." 

As they have no native metallic currency, a 
variety of sea-shell, called " cowrie," is their sub- 



36 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

stitute for small coin. Its average comparative 
value is at the rate of about 1000 for a dollar. 

For a day or two our ship looked more like a 
menagerie and a fruit-market than anything else. 
The usual price for cocoa-nuts was a dollar a hun- 
dred ; for pine-apples, twenty-five cents a dozen ; 
for oranges ten cents a dozen ; and for everything 
else in the same proportion. There were dates, too, 
and a kind of sugar in small cakes, something like 
maple-sugar. The natives called it " joggery." We 
also took in fresh provisions for the remainder of our 
voyage. Pigs, geese, ducks, and chickens, with 
sweet potatoes and yams in abundance, were pur- 
chased from the Malays. This presented a most 
agreeable contrast with our fare up to this time. It 
had been very coarse and meagre — entirely inferior 
to what the owners of the ship had promised us. We 
afterward learned that the captain had reserved for 
nis own exclusive use, on the voyage back to the 
United States, most of the delicacies that had been 
put on board for his passengers. 

On Monday, some of us got into the ship's boat 
with the captain, and went on shore at Anjer. As I 
stepped on terra-firma once more, old mother earth 
was never before by me so ardently loved. I almost 
felt as if I must stoop down and kiss the dear old 
lady. The first object that attracts your attention on 
approaching the shore, is a large banyan tree, be- 
neath whose ample shade several of the natives were 
quietly reclining. Near the sandy beach on which 
you land from the surf — for there was no wharf — was 
a small Dutch fort, and here and there a soldier, in 
faded, dingy, undress uniform, lounging idly about 



HOW WE REACHED CHINA. 37 

under the banyan tree, which stood near the entrance 
to the fort. The streets, or rather lanes, of this Malay 
village were quite narrow, and overgrown with grass. 
They were lined on each side with cottages, built of 
bamboo (canes), and thatched with long, narrow 
leaves. We saw but two shops of any kind, and 
these contained but a very scanty stock of goods, 
mostly of foreign manufacture, for the supply of ves- 
sels touching at the island. They were kept by 
Chinamen in full costume, of whom there are many 
at the different ports of the East-India islands. The 
trees, shrubbery, flowers, and fruit — the people and 
their dwellings — all looked strange and different from 
any I had ever before seen ; but the chickens looked 
and crowed, and the cats looked and mewed, like 
chickens and cats in a Christian land. And the little 
Malay babies cried and laughed and played, and 
said "mamma," just exactly like Christian babies. 
I felt then that humanity was the same all over the 
world. 

The man who furnished most of the supplies 
for our ship was named Osmond, and he seemed to 
be a sort of chief among his people. He was well 
dressed, in a costume much resembling the Turkish, 
and was very civil, agreeable, and polite. He invited 
us into his cottage, and regaled us with delicious ban- 
anas, fresh from the trees. We saw no females, except 
a half-grown girl who seemed to be the nurse to 
Osmond's infant, of which he appeared very fond. 
We inferred that the women are kept very secluded. 
The only covering worn by the Malay infants was a 
heart-shaped plate of brass about four inches in diame- 
ter, tied by a string around the middle of the body. 



38 FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

The natives are generally Mohammedans, and there 
was in the village a very ancient brick building, used 
as a mosque, with a populous graveyard attached. But 
we were informed that they very seldom had any ser- 
vice. It is going to ruin, like the system it represents. 
Just before we anchored, we all felt a strong and 
very peculiar jarring sensation, as if the ship had 
struck upon a rock, and was dragged over it, with a 
violent scraping of the keel of the vessel along the 
whole of its length. At first, we all supposed this 
was really the case. The ship seemed to get off in a 
few moments ; but, after a little, the same sensations 
occurred again, and after another short interval, a 
third time. We then began to think it must be the 
shock of an earthquake ; and when, going ashore on 
the next day (Monday), we visited the Dutch officer 
in command at Anjer, we learned from him that such 
was the fact. He had felt the same tremulous 
motions at the same hour with ourselves on the day 
before, and said they were common in that region. 
Mrs. Dr. Medhurst, the wife of the veteran and noble 
missionary, told us in Shanghai, a year or two after, 
that while they were living at Batavia, the principal 
city on the island of Java, some years before, such 
was the violence of these commotions beneath the 
surface of the earth on one occasion, that several 
houses were thrown down, and all the inhabitants of 
the town rushed out of doors, to avoid being buried 
beneath the ruins of their dwellings. These islands, and 
the many others composing the vast Eastern Archi- 
pelago, are evidently of volcanic origin. Travellers 
who have visited the interior of the island of Java 
speak of having seen the crater of an extinct volcano. 



HOW WE BEACHED CHINA. 39 

Leaving Anjer, we sailed along northwardly, 
through the Java Sea, keeping Sumatra in sight all 
the time on our left, and a multitude of smaller 
islands on the right, till, in a day or two, we entered 
the Straits of Banca, which separate an island of the 
same name from the coast of Sumatra. Banca also 
belongs to the Dutch, and is celebrated for its tin 
mines, which are a source of great revenue to that 
government. "We saw a foreign vessel in each of 
two or three harbors along its coast, which we pre- 
sumed was loading with tin. The Strait is quite nar- 
row, and of rather dangerous navigation, both from 
its shallowness and from the difficulty of finding the 
channel. Vessels sometimes get aground here, and 
some have been captured by the Malay pirates who 
infest these seas. They are always on the lookout for 
ships disabled or in distress, that they may have* a 
more favorable opportunity to murder the crew and 
seize the cargo. Our own ship touched bottom once 
and stuck fast, but fortunately the tide rose in a few 
hours and floated us off. Our progress was neces- 
sarily slow, and we were followed several times by 
large Malay proas, as their vessels are called, filled 
with men — in all probability pirates. There was, on 
the stern of our ship, a small cannon, which the cap- 
tain had loaded, and discharged at them. Whether 
the ball took effect or not, we could not tell ; but 
the fellows immediately turned off from the pur- 
suit probably thinking our vessel was a man-of- 
war, and that it would not be safe to venture an 
attack. 

A few days of pleasant weather and light winds 
brought us safely through these perilous waters, and 



40 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

out into the China Sea. Here we saw more gorge- 
ously glorious sunsets than any we had before wit- 
nessed. The varied shapes, hues, brilliancy and 
beauty of the evening clouds, as they rolled along 
up the sky in piled-up splendor and magnificence, 
suggested a possible resemblance to the heaven-built 
palaces and gilded battlements of the New Jeru- 
salem. 

One evening another scene of novel and exciting 
interest presented itself. It was a " school " of 
whales. A great number of these leviathans of the 
deep seemed to have taken it into their heads to have 
a general frolic. They rolled and tumbled their 
enormous black bodies about on the surface of the 
sea, sporting like kittens. Occasionally they came 
so near to us as to engender the fear lest, in the reck- 
lessness of their gigantic play, they should accidentally 
strike the ship with their ponderous forms, and sink 
it to the bottom. But they passed on at last, leaving 
us unharmed. 

We were sailing in sight of the coast of China 
several days before we came to the first port of our 
destination. This coast appeared totally different 
from what I had before imagined. Basing my idea 
on the known populousness of the empire, I expected 
to find the country gradually sloping toward the sea, 
and covered with multitudes of people, all in full 
view, busy in all kinds of labor, as bees in a hive ; 
with their numerous cities, towns and villages, 
crowded thickly together in every direction. Judge 
of my surprise, when, instead of these, there was 
nothing to be seen for hundreds of miles along the 
coast of China but dark, barren, bleak, precipitous, 



HOW WE REACHED CHINA. 41 

cragged rocks, rising almost perpendicularly from 
the sea. The only signs that we were in the vicinity 
of an inhabited country, were the fishing "junks" 
that we saw — large and small, occupied by the 
patient Celestials, wearing coarse straw or ratan hats, 
with cone-shaped crowns, beneath which were coiled 
up on their heads, to keep them out of the way, or 
hanging down their backs, tails or queues of straight, 
coarse, thick black hair, plaited, and often long 
enough to reach to the heels. They wore very full, 
loose coats and pantaloons, generally made of coarse 
cotton homespun, dyed blue and occasionally brown. 
The shoes of the sailors are sometimes wooden " dug- 
outs," but oftener made of coarse cloth, having thick 
soles consisting of many layers of felt, such as that 
of which hats are made. Their boats are very clum- 
sily but strongly built, and are kept well calked and 
oiled, but not painted. The sails are made of mats, 
or of coarse cotton or bark cloth, generally dyed a 
dark, reddish brown. The material used for dyeing 
this color, imparts, it is said, great durability to the 
cloth. 

About the thirtieth morning after we left Java, one 
of these odd-looking crafts was seen approaching our 
ship. When he came near enough to be heard, one 
of the men called out : 

" Good-ee morning, Cap-e-ting ; you wanchee pilot ? 
My number one good pilot." 

He then drew alongside, fastened his boat to the 
ship, and, climbing up the side, came on board. 

The first act of heathen idolatry I ever saw was 
this Chinaman kneeling before a rudely carved 
wooden image a few inches high, bowing his head to 



42 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

the deck of his boat several times, while two small 
red wax candles and some slender in cease-sticks — 
about as large as knitting-needles, and composed of 
fragrant substances — were burning before the idol, 
which represented the goddess of mercy or the 
" Queen of Heaven " — the tutelary diety of sailors 
and fishermen. How it shocked us and how we 
pitied him ! And he was but one of the millions 
whom we had come to enlighten and try to save. 

After much discussion with our captain about the 
price, a bargain was struck. He took his position on 
the quarter-deck, near the man at the helm, and 
pointed out to him the direction to steer for Hong 
Kong. We then drew near the rock-bound coast, 
and the rocky islands that fringe it. It looks as if 
the ship was running directly upon the rocks, and was 
in danger of being dashed to pieces. As yet, there 
is no appearance of human abode, much less of civil- 
ization, when suddenly, as you sail around the jagged 
point of a high, hilly, rocky island, having some ver 
dure on its sides, lo ! there bursts upon your vision, 
as if by the touch of a fairy wand, or of the lamp of 
Aladdin, a beautiful town of white houses, with glass 
windows and green blinds, well built on the hillside, 
and arranged in streets. To crown the whole, there 
is the steeple of a Christian church ! What a wel- 
come sight to our wearied eyes, and how cheering to 
our anxious hearts ! That is the town of Victoria, 
and the island on whose bosom it so beautifully and 
quietly nestles is Hong-Kong, which we reach on 
this eighteenth day of August, after a voyage of one 
hundred and sixteen days from Boston. 



CHAPTEE III. 

HOW HONG-KONG APPEARED. 

How Great Britain came to own it—" Fragrant Streams " — British 
Dignity — Pleasant Reception— Town of Victoria— The Chinese 
Portion—" Coolies" — Foreign Buildings — The "Barracks" — The 
Church — Morrison Hill — " Happy Valley " — Morrison School — Mr. 
John Morrison — Rev. Samuel Brown — Mr. William A. Macy — Rev. 
Charles Gutzlaff, D.D. 

This island belongs to Great Britain, having been 
ceded to that power by the Emperor of China, as a 
part of the indemnity claimed at the close of the 
Opium war, in 1842. Although now universally 
called in English, Hong-Kong, yet its real name in 
Chinese, is Iliang-Kiang, and it means " Fragrant 
Streams." But the only streams we saw were those 
which ran down the rocky hillsides after a rain. 
They gleamed and flashed in the sunlight like threads 
of molten silver, and were certainly beautiful if not 
"fragrant." The outline of the island, on the side 
toward the mainland, is crescent-shaped ; its two 
horns, several miles apart, approaching within a half 
mile or even less of the opposite shore, and its inter- 
vening or receding portion forming, together with a 
similar conformation of the coast over against it, one 
of the finest harbors in the world. It embraces in 
the broad sweep of its arms, a magnificent sheet of 



44 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

water, of sufficient extent to float the whole navy of 
Great Britain. 

While we were entering the harbor, where we 
found a dozen or fifteen other foreign vessels, mostly 
British and American, the British harbor-master, 
wearing a blue cloth cap, with a gilt band around it, 
came off to us in his barge, pulled by six oars, in the 
hands of English sailors. He assumed the most im- 
portant airs and directed us where to anchor, with a 
display of authority that was truly edifying. An 
awfully dignified little midshipman, with a huge 
cocked hat big enough for him to sleep in, an epaulet 
on his shoulder that looked as if it was about as much 
as he could well stand up under, and a sword hang- 
ing by brass chains from his belt, so low that it 
would have dragged on the deck, had he not held it 
up in his left hand — came on board to get our ship's 
custom-house papers. 

No sooner had we anchored, than an American 
missionary of the Northern Baptist church, Rev. 
John Johnson, having seen the ship enter the harbor, 
and recognized its nationality by the stars and stripes, 
came off to us in his boat, gave us a cordial welcome, 
and invited us to accompany him on shore, offering 
us the hospitalities of his house for the few days of 
our sojourn at the island. The Rev. William Dean 
was his colleague in that field, and they both treated 
us with great kindness. 

A portion of the town of Victoria is assigned to 
the Chinese : it may have been the same locality that 
was occupied by the native town before the island 
became the property of Great Britain. The buildings 
extend down to the water's edge, and some of them 



HOW HONG-KONG APPEARED. 45 

are built upon piles, directly over the water, so that 
small boats can pass between the upright posts, and are 
then under the house, which has a large trap-door in 
its floor. Through this, persons can climb up by a 
ladder that is let down for the purpose, whenever it is 
needed. The houses are very small, generally but one 
story high, with a sleeping apartment in the attic, 
overhead. They are crowded together as closely as it 
is possible for them to be placed, and only a few feet- 
say eight or ten — are allowed for the width of the 
dark, dirty, irregular streets. Dark, because day- 
light is almost excluded by the projecting roofs of 
tiles, that overhang the walls of the buildings for 
about three feet on the opposite sides of these nar- 
row lanes. Here, too, you will find the Chinese 
market, filled with a great variety of fish, meats, 
fowl, fruits, and vegetables, to supply the demands 
of the foreign as well as the native population. And 
then the crowds of Chinese to be seen there, with 
their shaven heads, and long, braided hair. 

Men supply the place of beasts of burden in China. 
A stick of bamboo (the cane of this country), or of some 
other tough, elastic wood, about five feet long, hav- 
ing a sling of ropes attached to each end, is balanced 
across the shoulder, and in each sling the Chinaman 
can easily carry a bag containing a bushel of rice, 
or about the same weight of any other article that 
will admit of being carried in that manner. You 
meet great numbers of these bearers, or coolies, as 
foreigners call them ; but that is an Indian term — 
the real name in Chinese is Tcang-foo. They walk 
very rapidly while carrying a load — almost run — and 
accompany every step with a loud exclamation, 



46 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

" Hah-ho ! hah-ho /" The bearers of sedans are 
called keaw-foo, the word Iceaw meaning sedan. 
They generally wear sandals made of twisted and 
braided straw, as allowing more play and expansion 
to the feet, beside being very soft and cheap. The 
muscular development of the legs of these bearers is 
enormous. They also have a large, hard, fleshy pro- 
tuberance on the shoulders, where the stick crosses 
them. I saw, one day, from an elevated position on 
a hillside, about a hundred of these coolies, with an 
arrangement of ropes, poles, and sticks, carrying 
through one of the wide streets, the body of a very 
large tree, that was to furnish a mast for a ship. It 
bore a most curious and striking resemblance to a 
gigantic centipede, the bearers looking like its legs. 

Just look yonder ! How pleasant it is to an Ame- 
rican, to see the stars and stripes waving, not only 
on some of the finest ships in the harbor, but also from 
the flag-staff on the top of the large white house on 
the corner of one of the streets in this pretty hillside 
town of Victoria. A little higher up are the London 
Missions premises, and then, still higher and beyond, 
is the British Government House — a larger, and hand- 
somer building, from whose roof floats the proud flag 
of Old England, St. George's Cross. Further along, 
up the main street, which is called " Queen's Road," 
there is the same national emblem flying on some 
spacious, though not very high structures of well- 
hewn stone. These are called " the Barracks," and 
are permanently occupied by a regiment of Her 
Britannic Majesty's troops, quartered here for the 
preservation of peace and order. It is composed in 
part of Sepoys from India. They are nearly black, 



HOW HONG-KONG APPEARED. 47 

and have thick, straight hair. The expression of 
their eyes is fierce and sinister. They are exceed- 
ingly slender, but lithe and active. Yon may, there- 
fore, see British soldiers and officers every day in full 
uniform ; and frequently does the band belonging to 
the garrison discourse sweet, and soul-stirring music, 
to the great delight and eniivenment of the whole 
town. It is especially charming, soothing, enchant- 
ing, enrapturing, when you hear it on a calm, still, 
summer evening, a little way off on the water. If 
you have ever heard a splendid band playing under 
such circumstances, you know the emotions it excites 
— they cannot be described. 

There, too, not far from the barracks, and fronting 
on an open square, is a neat, small stone church, in 
the Gothic style of architecture, with its modest little 
spire pointing the people to the skies. Just the sim- 
ple fact of such an edifice, for such a purpose, in 
such a region of paganism — though this one was for 
the benefit of those only whose native language was 
English — impresses a Christian heart with peculiar 
pleasure ; for its very presence there breathes of 
hope for the heathen also, who live within sight of 
that spire, and within the sound of that sweet, 
church-going bell, which by its melodious chimings, 
calls the foreigners to their weekly worship, while it 
teaches the native idolater — as he stops, and, listen- 
ing, asks why the ringing of that bell so regularly 
every seventh day — of a Sabbath of rest from labor, 
and of prayer and praise to the only living and true 
God. It stands as a beacon-light on the confines of 
that vast land of darkness, darting its rays out into 
the gloom, directing the benighted and storm-tossed 



48 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

on that sea of superstition and ignorance, to the only 
haven of deliverance from the shipwreck of the 
soul. 

Its forms are those of the Church of England, and 
its chaplain at that time was a Rev. Mr. Monteith, 
of excellent repute, as a pious, evangelical, zealous 
minister of Jesus Christ. 

Passing on through the town along its principal 
street, " Queen's Road," which extends on the hill- 
side for about a mile around a bay that beautifully 
indents the island at that point, you come to a pretty 
hill, having its gentle slopes covered with grass, while 
it seems quite disconnected from its higher and more 
scantily clothed, rugged, rocky sisters, that rise far 
above and beyond it. Indeed, they seem to throw 
their huge, rough arms around it, as if to fold it to 
their bosoms for protection, while they look down 
upon it with apparent pride that so beautiful a little 
thing is one of their own number, and belongs to them- 
selves. 

Between it and their feet — as you discover on 
reaching it. — there lies one of the most charming little 
valleys your eyes ever beheld. A large portion of it 
is a perfect plain, covered with a luxuriant growth of 
grass, while it is fringed on its sides with beautiful 
trees and wild shrubbery. It has a small stream of 
clear, sparkling water winding through it, running 
around the hill, and dashing away down into the 
harbor. This delightful little vale is most appropri- 
ately named " Happy Valley," and it might well have 
served as the lovely prototype from which Johnson 
drew his charming picture in "Rasselas." 

On the summit of that hill, with the town and the 



HCfW HONG-KONG APPEARED. 49 

harbor in front, and " Happy Yalley " behind it — is a 
long, low, white building, of but one story in height, 
and having a spacious veranda, which is inclosed 
with green Venetian blinds from the eaves to the 
floor. Most of the foreign buildings in China have 
these verandas or porticoes surrounding them, with 
a similar arrangements of blinds, as a protection from 
the excessive heat of the sun during the long sum- 
mers. 

This edifice is the " Morrison School " for Chinese 
boys. It was built and sustained by the liberal con- 
tributions of the foreign merchants and others in 
China, who composed the "Morrison Education 
Society ;" and it was named in honor of the first Pro- 
testant missionary to that empire, the great and good 
Rev. Dr. Robert Morrison. His son, Mr. John Mor- 
rison, a most estimable, gifted, and pious young man, 
was, at the time of its establishment, interpreter of 
Chinese to the British government, and was largely 
instrumental in the accomplishment of the work. He 
died not long after its completion, deeply lamented 
by all who knew him — missionaries, merchants, 
natives, and foreigners. 

Its first superintendent was, if I mistake not, the 
Rev. Samuel Brown, an American missionary, who 
was, after a few years, compelled to return to his 
country on account of the failure of the health of his 
wife. Soon after my own return for the same cause, 
our families had a delightful interview at his resi- 
dence in the State of New York, where he was keep- 
ing a select boarding-school for boys. There, too, we 
became acquainted with his mother, an unusually 
intelligent and pious old lady, who possessed peculiar 
3 



50 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

and additional interest to us, from the fact that she 
was the author of that beautiful hymn, beginning : 

" I love to steal a while away 
From every cumbering care." 

Mr. Brown has recently returned to the East as a 
missionary to Japan. A brief sketch of his history, 
together with an excellent photograph likeness, 
appeared some months ago in " Harper's Weekly." 

Mr. William A. Macy, an American lay-missionary, 
was in charge of the Morrison School at the time of 
our landing at Hong-Kong. His mother accompa- 
nied him, being a widow, and he her only child. She 
lias since gone to take her harp, and he to get his 
crown. 

The original object of the Morrison School was to 
teach Chinese boys the English language in connec- 
tion with Christianity ; but after an experiment of 
several years, it was found that the boys had so uni- 
versally perverted their knowledge of English, by 
becoming, for the sake of gain, interpreters for opium- 
traders, sailors, and others — generally for wicked 
purposes — making, to say the least, but very poor 
use of their English, and none at all of their Christi- 
anity, that the benevolent supporters of the school 
became discouraged, and I think it has now been for 
some time entirely discontinued. Full experience 
has therefore shown that it is a pernicious labor to 
teach English to the Chinese, and that the only safe 
method is to teach them Christianity through the 
medium of their own native tongue. 

We also found, on our arrival in China, the cele- 
brated veteran missionary, Kev. Charles Gutzlaff, D.D. 



HOW HONG-KONG APPEARED. 51 

He was a Prussian by birth, and had been sent out 
by the Netherlands Missionary Society more than 
thirty years before. Possessed of a rare talent for 
acquiring languages, he had learned to speak, read, 
and write the Chinese with great fluency. He made 
a translation of the entire Scriptures into that lan- 
guage, and, besides translations of other books, wrote 
many tracts of his own composition. He often went 
among the Chinese in disguise, and spoke several of 
their dialects with such wonderful accuracy as to 
escape detection, where discovery would have been 
death. He had been as bold, intrepid and valiant a 
soldier of the cross as ever set foot on Pagan shores ; 
and yet, when we saw him, he had almost entirely 
laid aside his missionary character, having become 
Chinese secretary, and interpreter of the British 
government, with a large salary. Still, he had a class 
of Chinese, who came to his room every evening for 
instruction ; and it was on one of those occasions that 
I was introduced to him by a brother missionary. 
His manner was very kind and cordial. He was of 
about the middle stature — perhaps a little above it — 
and was growing quite corpulent. He had a very 
large, round, full, red face, beaming with the good 
nature that also twinkled in his small grey eyes. He 
was very bald, and wore a round-jacket, vest, and 
pantaloons, all of white linen, a common summer cosj 
tume worn by foreigners in China. He died some 
time after, while we were at Shanghai ; and although 
the evening and the sunset of his long and laborious 
life were not without a cloud, yet we cannot help think- 
ing that he must have accomplished great good, and 
that he is saved through the mercy of the Redeemer. 



CHAPTER IV. 

GOING TO CANTON. 

Leaving Hong-Kong — A Fellow Passenger — Robbers — Dr. and Mrs. 
Sexton — Scenery along up " Pearl River " — Pagodas— Tombs — The 
"Bogue" or "Bocca Tigris" — Forts — Whampoa — Boat-women — 
Boats — War-junks — Flower-boats — More Pagodas — " Fan-kwei " — 
River Population— Proper Xame of " Canton" — Appearance of the 
City — Foreign " Gardens," and " Factories " — Peripatetic Mer- 
chants, Artisans, Tradesmen, and Mountebanks. 

That part of our ship's cargo which consisted of resin 
in barrels, and pig-lead, was destined for Canton. So 
after a pleasant sojourn of a few days at Hong-Kong, 
we went on board again, weighed anchor, and spread 
our sails once more, under the guidance of the 
Chinese pilot, who was to show us the way to the 
great commercial city of the Celestial Empire. On 
account of the indisposition of his wife, my colleague 
had taken his family and baggage from the ship at 
Hong-Kong, where they remained for several months, 
We had been kindly entertained there for three or 
four days by our American Baptist missionary friends, 
and now one of them, the Rev. Francis C. Johnson, son 
of the Eev. William B. Johnson, D.D., of Edgefield, 
South Carolina, accompanied us to Canton. He was 
a gentleman of superior abilities and of great eccen- 
tricity, but, withal, a most generous, warm-hearted, 
and genial companion. His society for the few short 



GOING TO CANTON. 53 

days during which we were favored with it, con- 
tributed no little to our enjoyment and edification. 

Bands of robbers, called Ladrones, infested Hong- 
Kong at the time of our visit. Such was their auda- 
city and adroitness, that they would climb by ladders 
up to the windows in the second story of even for- 
eign dwellings, enter apartments, often where persons 
were sleeping, and carry off everything they could 
find. It was supposed by many that they had a vo- 
latile preparation of some kind of drug, the fumes of 
which, diffused in the room, possessed the power so 
to deepen the slumbers of the occupants, or to 
stupefy them in some way, that they would not be 
wakened by ordinary noises. Our friend Johnson, 
being unmarried, had hired rooms in a Chinese build- 
ing, and these rascals had broken in — I think during 
his absence — and stolen his entire wardrobe that he 
had brought with him from America. He bore his 
loss with singular equanimity; and with the most 
philosophical coolness, as amusing to us as it seemed 
consolatory to himself, said in his peculiar drawling 
tone, that "he was really much obliged to the 
Ladrones for relieving him of his surplus clothing ; 
that he had more than he wanted anyhow, and didn't 
know what to do with it ; and that the robbers had 
done him an undesigned kindness in taking it out of 
his way !" So in fact the amiable and simple- 
hearted missionary seemed as independent of the 
world as was Diogenes in his tub. And, strangely 
regardless of the proprieties of ministerial attire, 
he had gone and bought himself a blue and 
white striped shirt, with a wide, open collar, in which, 
without cravat or ribbon, and in a white round- 



54 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

jacket and pants, but no vest, he called with us to pay 
his respects to the representative of our government, 
the Hon. John Wesley Davis, of Indiana, who had 
just arrived as the United States Commissioner to 
China. Notwithstanding his oddities, it was a great 
loss to the missionary band in that Empire when the 
total prostration of his physical strength drove 
Mr. Johnson from their ranks back to his native land. 

Sailing out of the beautiful harbor of Hong-Kong, 
the head of our ship was turned directly toward the 
frowning barrier of rocky islands that hemmed in the 
river and country behind it from our view. 

We were now sailing over the very spot where, but 
a few weeks before, a sudden gust of wind had upset 
a small vessel, and hurried all on board, including a 
young medical missionary and his wife, Dr. and Mrs. 
Sexton, of Philadelphia, to a watery grave. They 
were sent out by the Southern Baptist Board, and 
had but just arrived, full of hope and promise ; but, 
having given evidence of their devotion to the mis- 
sionary work, they were taken home to its reward 
without having passed through its toils. We drop a 
tear that may mingle with the water which bathes 
their pale, cold cheeks, far down in the deep ; for 
theirs is no grave by which we may sit and weep out 
our sorrow that two, so young and lovely, should so 
early and so sadly have passed away. 

Presently, a narrow opening appeared between two 
of the islands, through which, as one of its mouths, 
or "gates," as the Chinese call them, "Pearl River" 
runs down into the sea. Entering this on the bosom 
of the flood tide, and with a favoring breeze tilling 
our outspread wings of snowy canvas, the wall that 



GOING TO CANTON. 55 

had hitherto shut us out was soon left behind. Its 
landward side gradually sloped off into hills partly 
covered with grass and a thin low shrubbery, but 
mostly barren to all appearance ; while the interven- 
ing valleys were evidently more fertile, as they were 
occupied by cottages, hamlets, and villages, with 
trees enough for shade. Some portions of the coun- 
try along and near the river were undulating rather 
than hilly, being made up of alternate elevations and 
depressions. We had seen as yet but a sparse popula- 
tion when compared with the rumored multitudes in 
the " Central Flowery Kingdom." But the inhabitants, 
even in those immediate neighborhoods, were doubt 
less far more numerous than appeared to us from the 
deck of the ship. Now and then, we saw one ot 
those many-sided towers of several stories in height, 
such as we had often seen pictured in the juvenile his- 
tories and geographies of our childhood, and so unmis- 
takably Chinese, in the curved slope of the roof pro- 
jecting from each story, with its long, turned-up cor- 
ners. Scattered here and there on the hillsides, were 
some of the graves surrounded by mason-work of 
nicely hewn stone or of brick, plastered and white- 
washed, but always built in the form of a horse-shoe, 
the space thus inclosed being twelve or fourteen feet 
in diameter, and often floored with smoothly hewn 
blocks of granite, underneath which, in the centre, 
the coffin is deposited. The middle or back part of 
the wall is three or four feet high, gradually diminish- 
ing to one or two at the ends. The tablet or tomb- 
stone, inscribed simply with the name, and the year 
of the birth of the deceased, is placed upright against 
the middle of the wall, directly opposite the open 



56 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

space between the two ends. Sometimes as much 
money is expended on these resting-places for the 
dead as on the habitations of the living. 

From being spread out into a bay filled with 
islands on your left, as you sail up the river, for nearly 
fifty miles, it narrows down to a single passage at a 
point called the " Bogue," or Bocca Tigris. 

The Chinese have shown more wisdom in the selec- 
tion of this spot for the defence of the approach 
to Canton than they have skill or bravery in occupy- 
ing it. There were on the hills commanding this pas- 
sage, well-built forts, with walls extending from them 
down to the river; but they were not proof against 
British cannon, and have been nearly destroyed. 
Beyond the Bogne, the face of the country soon 
becomes not only level, but more fertile and highly 
cultivated as the green fields of rice and other vege- 
tables, spread out before you on every side, do amply 
testify. 

Some thirty miles more, and you come to the 
Chinese village of Whampoa, with many of its low, 
crowded dwellings, built over the water on posts, 
which are driven into the mud on the edge of the 
river. Here is the anchorage for the foreign ship- 
ping ; and here you may see the flags of many differ- 
ent nations flying gaily from the masts of the vessels 
moored in the stream. Even before we anchored, 
our ship was beset by nearly a score of small boats, 
mostly manned by women / some young, some old, 
with bare heads and feet, save when a large-figured 
head-kerchief is worn and tied under the chin. 
Their dress is simple and becoming; it consists of 
loose-flowing trowsers, reaching to the ankles, and an 



GOING TO CANTON. 57 

outer garment, with large sleeves, extending from the 
neck — around which it fits closely — to the knee. 
These articles are either of cotton or coarse silk, and 
are generally blue. They are excess ively fond of 
jewelry, and wear ear-rings, bracelets, anklets, and 
hair pins of such material as they can afford — gold, 
silver, precious stones, brass, shell, horn, or glass. 
Their boats are called tan-kid, meaning u egg-7wuse" 
boats, because of their resemblance — originally, more 
than at present — to a half of an egg, divided in the 
direction of its longest diameter. 

These water-nymphs are clamorous to be employed 
to take passengers to the shore, or from one ship to 
another. Standing on the miniature deck at the 
hinder part of the little craft, she propels the boat 
with great skill and speed, by means of a single oar 
— a scull, in the stern. It is provided with mats 
sufficient to cover the whole boat at night, or, 
if necessary, during a rain ; but ordinarily, the two 
ends are open to the sky, and the middle portion only 
is covered by the mats, to protect the passengers, if 
they have any, from the sun and rain — otherwise the 
family ; for they are emphatically family boats, being 
the only dwelling. " Here whole families are reared, 
live and die. The room which serves for passengers 
by day, is a bedroom by night ; a kitchen at one time, 
a wash-room at another, and a nursery always." 

At Whampoa, you are still twelve miles from Can- 
ton ; so you charter one of the tan-kid boats, and 
proceed on up the river. It is an intensely warm 
afternoon, and, as your course is due west, the declin- 
ing sun pours its merciless radiance of scorching 
heat, as well as blinding brightness, full into your 

3* 



58 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

face ; for, as you are here for the first time, you can- 
not endure to have the mats drawn over to shut out 
the sun ; you wish to see everything that is to- be 
seen of this strange country and still stranger peo- 
ple. 

The river is filled with boats of every size and 
description ; large, clumsy lighters for loading and 
unloading ships; light, graceful "flower-boats," i. e. 
pleasure-boats, profusely ornamented with fantastic 
wood-engravings, paintings, large ornamental lan- 
terns, and little gay silken flags flaunting in the 
breeze. Then there are the armed war and govern- 
ment revenue junks, with ugly-looking cannon pro- 
truding threateningly from their port-holes, while 
their gaudily colored sides are covered with round 
shields of ratan, having painted on them the fiercest- 
looking tiger-faces imaginable ; such faces of tigers 
as never existed anywhere but in the fancy of the 
artists, marvellously prolific in the hideous and fright- 
ful. Some of these boats are so arranged as to be 
propelled by oars, of which they carry forty or fifty, 
and by this means they attain great speed. 

Just above the anchorage at Whampoa is a small 
island-hill, rising from the river, which was assigned 
to foreigners for a burial-place. On it we saw some 
white marble tombstones, like those at home. These 
had been sent from England and America by the 
surviving friends of those who had died thus far away 
from their native land. 

A little further on you come to a tall pagoda, nine 
stories high, on a slightly elevated island in the 
middle of the river ; and then, a few miles still on up 
the river, is another, of the same common octagonal 



GOING TO CANTON. 59 

figure, but of about the same height. Both are much 
dilapidated, and the former is partly covered with 
vines, which impart to it something of the beauty and 
interest of an ancient ruin. 

As you advance, the crowd of boats becomes more 
dense, and as, from curiosity, scores of shaven-headed 
juveniles peep out at you from under the covers 
of their own boats in passing, you hear the same 
words from all : " Fan-lewd, fan-lcwei /" " foreign 
devils, foreign devils." This salutation is, to say the 
least, not as complimentary as might be ; but, 
since it does you no harm, you give yourself no 
uneasiness on the subject. Presently the thorough- 
fare on the river is narrowed down to the space of 
about two rods in the middle, and along this, hun- 
dreds of boats are constantly and swiftly passing up 
and down, almost touching each other, and yet guided 
with such skill as seldom to come into collision. The 
remaining surface of the river for one or two hundred 
yards on each side, is entirely hidden by the thou- 
sands of boats that are lying moored, and crowded as 
closely together as it is possible for them to be 
packed, to the banks on either side, which they totally 
conceal. 

You have now reached the far-famed city. It is 
called by the natives, Kwang-tung sang-ching, which 
translated literally, means, " Kwang-eastern provincial 
city." There are two provinces — corresponding to our 
States — lying contiguous, called the u Two Kwang," 
which are under one government. They are distin- 
guished from each other by the suffixes, tung y meaning 
" east," and si, " west." Thus we have Kwang-tung, 
and Kwang-si — the "Eastern Kwang," and the 



60 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

" Western Kwang." The word " Canton," is only a 
foreign corruption of the real name — Kwang-tung. 

This city occupies a low plain, extending from the 
" Pearl Kiver," back about three miles to the " White 
Cloud Hills," which are covered with tombs and con- 
stitute a vast cemetery. Its appearance is by no 
means imposing, and its walls, which are said to be 
six miles in circumference, are scarcely distinguish- 
able from the mass of low, dark, dingy dwellings, 
crowded together, both within them and without. 
Presently, your eyes are greeted with the sight of 
the American and British flags, flying from two 
tall flagstaff's in their respective " gardens," which 
together form a kind of open square or park, of 
not more than five or six acres. JS"ear the middle 
of it stands the English church. Facing this plea- 
sure-ground and the river, are the foreign " Hongs " 
— buildings of two and three stories high, well con- 
structed of brick and stuccoed. They are occupied 
by the foreign merchants, both as dwellings and 
places of business. The street running along in 
front of the foreign hongs, or " factories," was filled 
with peripatetic artisans and merchants, having the 
implements of their craft, their wares and their 
merchandise, conveniently suspended from the ends 
of a pole across the shoulder. It is astonishing to 
see how compactly they can thus stow away and 
carry their manifold utensils. The blacksmith for 
example, in this manner, carries his forge, bellows, 
anvil, tools and iron — all, of course, on a small scale 
— with perfect ease. So the baker, his oven, flour 
and kneading-board — the proprietor of an eating 
establishment, his kitchen, his dishes and provisions. 



GOING TO CANTON. 61 

There you may see a barber shaving the head, plait- 
ing the queue, thumping the back, or cleaning out 
the ears, eyes and nose of his customer, who is seated 
on a high three-legged stool in the street. Then there 
are travelling cobblers, tinkers, confectioners, dentists 
and quack-doctors, physiognomers, fortune-tellers, 
artisans, astrologers, jugglers, gamblers, venders of 
fruit and vegetables — all vociferating, gesticulating, 
importuning, elbowing and jostling in every direc- 
tion — seeming to you to constitute the veriest Babel 
to be found on earth. And — as sure as you were 
born — if there isn't that very Chinaman you saw in 
the picture in the school-geography when you were a 
child, with his broad-rimmed, peaked crowned hat, 
and a basket swinging from each end of a pole across 
his shoulder — one containing kittens and the other 
puppies ! And yet the tales that are current among 
us at home respecting the use of rats, cats and dogs, 
as articles of food with the Chinese, are doubtless 
somewhat exaggerated, for I was informed that only 
those who cannot afford to purchase other kinds of 
animal food will eat them. 



CHAPTER Y. 

SOMETHING- ABOUT CANTON AND AMOY. 

New Friends — Seamen's Bethel — Hospitals— Drs. Parker and Hobson 
— Leang Afa — Howqua's Gardens — General Description of Chinese 
Ornamental Gardens — Flowers and Shrubbery — Distorting and 
Dwarfing Trees — Honan Temple — Idols — Priests — " Sacred Pigs " 
— " Old " and " New China Streets "— " Hog Lane "—Execution 
Ground — A Typhoon — Return to Hong-Kong — Up the Coast — 
Headwinds — Amoy — Opium Vessels — Fishing Boats — Batteries — 
11 Queen Bess " — Native City — Ku-lang-su — Missionaries — Islands 
— Mouth of the Yang-tsz-kiang — " Child of the Ocean." 

We soon found ourselves at the residence of the 
Rev. Peter Parker, M.D., by whom we were hospita- 
bly entertained, and where w r e renewed the acquain- 
tance of our Minister to China, Hon. John Wesley 
Davis, whom we first met in Norfolk, Virginia, six 
months before. He had arrived but a day or two in 
advance of us. We also spent, by invitation, several 
days at the dwelling of a very kind gentleman of 
the mercantile community, John D. Swords, Esq., of 
Philadelphia, since deceased. The Rev. George 
Loomis had been sent out by the American Seaman's 
Friend Society, as chaplain to the sailors at Wham- 
poa, where he usually preached on board some of the 
ships. We heard him, however, on this occasion, 
discourse on Sunday morning to an attentive and in- 
telligent group of some forty or fifty Americans and 



SOMETHING ABOUT CANTON AND AMOY. 63 

English — mostly merchants — in Dr. Parker's dining- 
room, which was so arranged that it was often, if not 
regularly, used as a chapel. Mainly through the 
efforts of Mr. Loomis, a neat floating " Bethel " has 
been since built at Whampoa. 

Daring the week passed at Canton w r e became 
acquainted with all the Protestant missionaries then 
stationed there, and experienced at their hands many 
kind attentions. Dr. Parker, and Dr. Hobson of the 
London Missionary Society, each had hospitals, and 
on their appointed days for receiving patients, these 
establishments are crowded with applicants ; and 
while medicines are dispensed to their diseased 
bodies, the only remedy for the sin-sick soul is set 
before them by the mouth of the living preacher, by 
the distribution of tracts and books, or portions of 
Scripture, to such as can read. Leang-Afa, the old- 
est convert and native preacher, often officiated on 
these occasions, and on the Sabbath. One Sunday 
afternoon, I heard him in Dr. Parker's hospital. He 
was short and fat, but serious and venerable. 

We found Mrs. Hobson an exceedingly interesting 
lady. She was a daughter of the founder of Protest- 
ant missions in China, Pev. Dr. Robert Morrison. 

One afternoon we accompanied some friends in a 
boat, to visit the gardens of Howqua, one of the 
old u Hong merchants," or Chinese merchant-princes, 
who had made an immense fortune in the tea-trade 
with foreigners. They are two or three miles up the 
river, on the bank of which they stand, surrounded 
by a high wall, having a massive gate-way, which 
you enter by a flight of stone steps leading from the 
water's edge. The prominent features of these, and 



64 FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

all other Chinese ornamental gardens, besides their 
flowers and shrubbery, are rocks, bridges, pools, and 
pavilions or arbors. The rocks are piled up and ce- 
mented together with a kind of plaster, which 
becomes, in a little time, as hard as the rock itself. 
Sometimes these piles of artificial rock-work are 
twenty feet high — not always solid masses, but 
oftener so built up as to form arches and crevices, 
caverns and grottoes, nooks and corners, of every 
shape that can be thought of — the more odd and 
strange, the more beautiful in native estimation. 
Then these rocks have paths winding about in all 
directions, inside and out, up flights of steps and 
down, often forming an intricate labyrinth. Another 
feature in these gardens consists in the artificial 
ponds or pools of water. They generally fill up so 
much of the space, that the rocks seem rather like 
islands rising out of them. Then these pools are 
crossed in various directions by bridges, some 
straight, and others running as zigzag as if they had 
been modelled after a streak of lightning. They are 
built of well-hewn stone, for the most part, and are 
from three to five feet high above the water, sup- 
ported by stone posts or pillars, and provided with 
curiously-wrought balustrades. — Sometimes they are 
built high enough to admit of a beautiful arch for a 
support. China abounds in these finely-arched 
bridges, crossing the numerous canals and rivers, 
throughout the whole country. Then there are 
arbors or summer-houses, of various fanciful shapes, 
from square to five, six, or eight sided, built out in 
the water, with merely a column at each corner, to 
support a curiously-constructed roof, which runs up 



SOMETHING ABOUT CANTON AND AMOY. 65 

in the centre to a point like a steeple. Often, too, 
these pavilions are built on the tops of the artificial 
rocky eminences. In private gardens, and in some 
public ones also, these little buildings have tables and 
benches, where friends and visitors resort to sit and 
smoke, drink tea, and chat. There are temples also, 
sad to say, with richly-carved and gilded wooden 
idols in them. 

Many of the flowers and shrubs are very beauti- 
ful. They are placed about in different parts of the 
garden, in odd-looking, yet handsome and costly 
flower-pots, and on stands and tables in the summer- 
houses and temples. There are great numbers of 
tea-shops in the public gardens, where hundreds of 
people daily congregate, to drink tea, smoke, and 
talk. The great fondness of the Chinese for flowers 
is proverbial. They have numerous different kinds, 
and many of them are exceedingly beautiful and 
fragrant. Here are many varieties of roses, lilies, 
violets, hollyhocks, sweet-williams, pinks, tube- 
roses, verbenas, peonies, bachelor's buttons, helio- 
tropes, hibiscus, honey-suckles, geraniums, myrtles, 
cape-jessamines, hydrangeas, artemisias, coxcombs, 
chrysanthemums, iris, azaleas, magnolias, lagerstrce- 
mias, altheas, convolvulus, japonicas, and many 
others. The splendid white lotus or water-lily, 
is seen resting on the surface of the pools, with 
its leaves often as large as a parasol. Its root is 
a favorite article of food, being both palatable and 
nutritious. There is a magnificent variety of the 
peony, called the mau-tan, unknown in America. 
Besides flowers, there is a great variety of evergreen 
shrubbery, such as the box, the arbor-vitse, the cy- 



66 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

press, cedar, and the pine. These are highly prized 
by the Chinese, and they force them to grow into 
many odd shapes by confining some of the branches 
with strings, and bending others, so as to make them 
grow in any direction they wish. Here are figures 
of birds and animals growing in this way. A deer 
with horns, or a long-necked crane, standing on one 
foot while the other is lifted up, and all growing 
fresh and green out of a flower-pot, is a very singu- 
lar sight. You will sometimes see one of these 
miniature trees that has been trained to resemble a 
pagoda of several stories in height. These Celestials 
have a strange passion for dwarfing and distorting all 
those varieties of shrubbery that will admit of the 
process. 

ISfearly opposite the foreign factories, on the other 
side of the river, is the village and temple of Honan. 
From the landing a broad avenue, paved with large 
hewn stones, and shaded by grand old trees, leads 
directly to the temple. You first pass through a 
large portal, having within its walls, on each side, a 
gigantic image, clad in full armor, standing in a 
threatening attitude, its black, glaring eye-balls half 
protruding from their sockets, and the w r hole face 
wearing the fiercest conceivable expression of rage. 
These represented the gate-keepers or sentinels of the 
sacred inclosure,' and are called by the resident foreign- 
ers " Gog and Magog." We next passed through 
another similar entrance-building, in which were 
four of these colossal figures instead of two, and 
then found ourselves before the main temple. It 
was spacious, ornate, curious and costly. Its roof 
was tall, had a curved slope, and long turned-up cor- 



SOMETHING ABOUT CANTON AND AMOY. 67 

ners. Filled with idols — carved, gilded and painted 
— of all sizes and descriptions, it was a noted Buddhist 
monastery, and a company of some two hundred 
priests or bonzes lived there, performing its daily 
cathedral services. The whole establishment covered 
over forty acres, and comprised many buildings, 
walks and gardens. In one part we were shown the 
sty containing the "sacred hogs" — some ten or a 
dozen enormous grunters, which had been fed, fat- 
tened and pampered till their bellies dragged on the 
ground as they walked, and some were such rotund 
masses of obesity that they did not appear to be able 
to walk at all. 

In a retired spot, surrounded by a pretty grove, near 
one of the vegetable gardens, stood a small building, 
about ten feet square, having but a single opening. 
The bodies of the deceased priests were put in here 
and burned till consumed to ashes. 

The large dining-hall, with the whole fraternity at 
dinner, all clothed alike, in long, loose garments of 
dingy white, or pale, dirty yellow, and having their 
heads closely shaven, forcibly reminded us of the 
dining-rooms in some of the state-prisons we had 
visited in our own country. 

In the immediate vicinity of the foreign hongs in 
Canton, and leading from them, are " Old China 
street," " New China street," and " Curiosity street" 
— all very narrow, perhaps eight feet wide, but well 
paved, and very cleanly. They are filled with shops 
kept with scrupulous neatness, and contain all varie- 
ties of native manufactures that are in demand by 
foreigners, on whom they mostly depend for patron- 
age. Here, among many other articles, you will find 



68 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

shawls, silks and crapes ; lacquered-ware, china-ware, 
beautiful filigree-work in silver, curious carving in 
ivory, pearl, wood and bamboo — furniture of ebony, 
rosewood and marble — rich, quaint and costly. 

Those streets frequented by the natives only, are 
narrower, filthy, and crowded. " Hog lane " is a 
dirty locality, to which foreign sailors mostly resort 
when they come up to the city from their vessels, 
which remain anchored at Whampoa. 

One day in walking around the city, outside the 
walls, being permitted only to look through the mas- 
sive gateways into the city proper, we passed through 
the terrible execution ground, which seemed to be a 
part of a street, a little wider than the rest, having 
dwellings on one side, and a high wall on the oppo- 
site. Thrown together in a heap against this wall, 
were the heads of some twenty persons, several of 
them females, who had been executed on that very 
morning on a charge of pirac} r . The surviving friends 
are allowed to take away the headless bodies ; other- 
wise the officers have them put into the roughest, 
coarsest coffins and buried. It seems a vessel had 
been attacked and robbed a few days previous, and a 
government junk was sent out in search of the pirates. 
Falling in with a vessel, they captured it and brought 
the crew to Canton as the guilty persons. They 
might have been so, but it is just as probable they 
were not. For I was informed on the most credible 
authority that this is the common method of punish- 
ing crimes and satisfying the laws. It would appear 
to be a general principle in the administration of jus- 
tice, that somebody must suffer, and it is of the least 
consequence whether that individual be the guilty 



SOMETHING ABOUT CANTON AND AMOY. 69 

person or not. This is known to have been the fact, 
in the case of those who w^ere beheaded for the mur- 
der of the six Englishmen, two vears before. The 
authorities at Canton, in order to satisfy the British 
consul, arid to allay the excitement which the horri- 
ble outrage had produced in the foreign community, 
took four men from prison, who had been put there 
for some other offence, and executed them as the real 
perpetrators of the murder, while in fact they were 
some miles distant from the place at the time when it 
was committed. 

After a very pleasant visit of a week in Canton, 
we returned to our ship at Whampoa, and were com- 
pelled to remain there at anchor during a very des- 
tructive typhoon, " great wind " — in which we after- 
ward learned, a number of foreign vessels were 
entirely lost at different points on the coast. At 
Macao and Hong-Kong, very many Chinese boats 
and junks were wrecked, and hundreds of lives lost. 
We had a passage of three days back to Hong-Kong, 
and after remaining there two more, proceeded on 
our voyage up the coast. Encountering strong head 
winds and a severe gale, we were nine days in reach- 
ing Amoy, 300 miles distant from Hong-Kong. Our 
captain put into this port, in order to replace his 
main-top-gallant yard which had been carried away 
in the storm, and to correct a derangement in his 
chronometer, which was necessary before proceeding 
on his voyage. 

Beating against a head wind, is a discouraging 
business, especially w T hen you sail all day long, your 
vessel going through the water at the rate of ten 
knots an hour, and vourself imagining vou are mak- 



70 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

ing fine progress, then to find you are near the same 
point from which you started in the morning. So, 
for two or three days did we beat back and forth 
across the channel of Formosa, against a strong oppos- 
ing current, making the same points of land each 
night and morning. 

It was on a lovely afternoon, on the fifteenth of 
September, 1848, when at last we made the head- 
lands at the entrance of the harbor of Amoy. 

The city is ten or fifteen miles from the sea, and 
its harbor is one of the finest on the coast of China. 
Your course in reaching it is nearly west, perhaps a 
little northwest, entering, as we did, by the more 
southern of the two passages leading to it. This 
entrance has on the north a wide, low, sandy beach 
for some distance, and then it gradually rises to bar- 
ren, rocky hills. On these you will discover two 
small pagodas, and by the aid of a glass, one or two 
villages or hamlets, in green depressions — they can- 
not be called valleys — less barren than the other 
parts of the island ; for such it is, though not dis- 
tinguishable, from your position, from the mainland 
which rises in mountains far off in the blue dis- 
tance. 

On the south you have bold, high mountains, ris- 
ing abruptly from the water, covered for the most 
part with stunted trees, while here and there you see 
the bare rocks. A tall pagoda stands on the top of 
the highest peak, and it is visible for many miles at 
sea. Snugly anchored in a little bay on your right, 
you will discover two or three foreign vessels, and at 
first you may suppose they are lying in the harbor at 
Amoy, but you soon learn your mistake, when, on 



SOMETHING ABOUT CANTON AND AMOY. 71 

approaching nearer, you see no signs of a town. 
These vessels are opium smugglers. They take up 
their station at this distance from the city, in order 
the more securely to carry on the traffic in this con- 
traband article. The native dealers in the drug can 
come off in well manned and armed boats, to this 
retired place, with less danger of interruption from 
the custom-house officers. Beautifully situated on 
the side of a hill, not far from this spot, and embow- 
ered in trees of luxuriant foliage, is a temple to the 
" Queen of Heaven " — a deity worshipped mostly by 
sailors. 

Still proceeding toward Amoy, you soon approach 
a line of five or six rocks, rising perpendicularly out 
of the water, and stretching across the- mouth of the 
harbor. They present quite a formidable barrier in 
appearance, and the deepest channel lies between 
two so near together, that at first sight you would 
think a ship could scarcely sail between them with 
safety ; but with good seamanship and a steady helm 
you may pass them unharmed. The whole surface 
of the harbor is alive with fishing boats, of every 
size and description, from the frail skiff with one man, 
to the clumsy junk with twenty — all actively and 
cheerfully plying their vocation. These impart a 
very animated appearance to the whole scene. Every 
boat large enough, is stocked with a family, and we 
saw the laughing faces of fat, dirty, and happy chil- 
dren in abundance, together with men and women, 
assorting, drying and salting the fish they had taken. 
Now you come opposite to the island of Amoy on the 
north, but you do not yet see the town, as it is situ- 
ated on the western or southwestern side of the 



72 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

island — the native shipping, with perhaps two or 
three foreign sail, indicate its position. 

The southern beach of this island, for some two 
miles, is of white sand, very firm and compact, and 
it affords a fine walking and riding ground for the 
foreigners resident at Amoy. A long range of bat- 
teries runs along the beach, which were mounted by 
unwieldy guns, and manned by cowardly troops, 
during the war in 184:1 — of course, to little purpose. 
Not far from the shore the rocks rise suddenly into a 
rugged hill, over which a stone wall passes, beginning 
at the water's edge. 1 did not learn whether this 
barrier extends entirely across the island, so as to 
inclose the cit} r , but presumed it did. We had few 
opportunities for making inquiries, as our vessel 
remained there but a few hours. 

On quite a commanding eminence, which over- 
looks the town, the British flag shows you the consu- 
lar establishment. At the time of our visit, there 
was no United States consulate, but one has since 
been established. The wild and rugged aspect of the 
rocks on this part of the island is greatly increased. 
Huge masses seem quite torn off from the sides of the 
hill, leaving deep clefts and yawning chasms. One 
large fragment on the shore, seen from a particular 
direction, bears some resemblance to a female figure, 
in a sitting posture. From this circumstance, we 
were told, the British residents have styled it " Queen 
Bess." 

The town now appears in sight, and in its leading 
features is like most other Chinese towns. A vast 
number of low buildings densely crowded together, 
having tiled roofs, with the usual sloping curve and 



SOMETHING ABOUT CANTON AND AMOY. 73 

projecting eaves. Among these, your attention will 
be first attracted by several buildings constructed in 
the native style, but furnished with glass windows, 
and some other foreign improvements. These are 
occupied by English and American missionaries, who 
received and entertained us with the most cordial, 
Christian hospitality. That small island on your left, 
and just opposite the town, about a half mile distant, 
is Ku-lang-su — the site of the British garrison in 
the late war. Not a trace of its foreign occupancy 
now remains. As soon as the island was evacuated 
by the troops, the natives destroyed everything that 
could remind them of the unwelcome visit of the 
" foreign devils," or " outside barbarians." As there 
are pleasant walks on this island, it is visited for re- 
creation. The foreign residents have a burial-ground 
here also, and the tombstones bear some worthy 
names. Among them, Mrs. Boone, Mrs. Doty and 
Mrs. Pohlman — a trio of noble women, wives of mis- 
sionaries ; and, now lately, have been added since our 
visit, those of the Bev. John Lloyd, who died of 
fever, and the Bev. Wm. Pohlman. The latter was 
drowned by the wreck of the schooner " Omega," in 
which he was a passenger from Hong-Kong to this 
place. His body was afterward found washed ashore. 
During our short stay, we had formed a pleasant 
acquaintance with these two amiable and devoted 
brethren, and shared their friendly attentions. This 
privilege can never be ours again on earth, for the 
Master hath taken them to himself. Faithful and 
useful to an eminent degree, they have been thus 
early and mysteriously called to a higher, holier and 
happier sphere. The early departure of our ship 



74 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

prevented us, much to our regret, from seeing and 
learning more of Amoy. Thus was afforded us an 
opportunity of becoming slightly acquainted with all 
the missionaries at that station also. Although our 
ship spent but a single day there, and we had but 
little opportunity for seeing the city, still a few r^purs 
intercourse with those kind friends was sufficient to 
endear them to our hearts. The little band consisted 
of ten at that time — Dr. Cumming, of Georgia, a 
medical missionary, being absent on a visit to 
America. He had a hospital here, and was expected 
to return soon. From Amoy, we sailed out of the 
beautiful harbor, and once more got under weigh 
toward the port of our destination. 

The wind had changed in our favor, and in a few 
days more we passed the several clusters of small, 
rocky, and mostly uninhabited islands off the mouth 
of the Yang-tsz-Kiang — " Ocean-child-river." Among 
them, are the Saddle Islands, Bugged Islands, and 
Parker's Islands. Here the sea becomes discolored 
by the yellow muddy waters of this mighty river. It 
is the Mississippi of China. 

The lofty, precipitous, rugged, rockbound coast has 
now been left behind, and on approaching the entrance 
to this great river, the land becomes very low and 
flat. Just in its mouth, which is from sixty to a hun- 
dred miles wide, is " Gutzlaff Island," a noted and 
convenient landmark for mariners. 



CHAPTER VI. 



DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. 



River Hwang-pu — Appearance of the Country along its Banks — 
Foreign Town— Pleasant Reception— Mission Buildings — English 
Church — London Mission Premises — Yang-king-pang — Streets — 
French Consulate — Graves — Coffins — Geomancy — Repositories for 
Coffined-bodies— " Baby Towers "—City Wall— Gates— Coins- 
Currency— Buildings — Streets — Sewers — Offal — Shops — Pawnbro- 
kers — Various Trades — Facilities for Missionary Work. 

From the maps you may be led to suppose that 
Shanghai is situated immediately on the shore of the 
China sea, or at least, on the banks of the Yang-tsz- 
Kiang, the main artery of the empire. But neither 
of those suppositions would be correct. After sailing 
up this great riyer — whose embouchure might well 
be called a sea in itself — some forty or fifty miles 
from the sea proper, you enter, on the south bank, a 
small river, called the Hwang-pu, at the Chinese vil- 
lage of Wu-sung. Then, following the windings of 
this stream in a southerly direction, for eighteen 
miles through a flat, level, and exceeding fertile 
country, you reach Shanghai. The distance in a right 
line is but twelve miles. The landscape has all the 
diversity and beauty that every hue of luxuriant 
vegetation, and gracefully waving groves of bam- 
boo can impart ; and yet it is monotonous from the 
total absence of mountain or hill scenery. The near- 
est hills are thirty miles west of Shanghai ; and the 



76 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

only elevations to relieve the dull level of the whole 
face of the country, as far as the eye can reach, are 
grave mounds. Nor indeed do these relieve it, for 
by their great numbers and sameness of form and 
size, being of conical shape and from six to ten feet 
high, they compose a monotony nearly as unpleasant 
as an unbroken plain. 

But here is Shanghai laid out in regular squares, 
with narrow streets between, and yet how different is 
its appearance from that of an American seaport city 
— New York, Charleston or New Orleans. Instead 
of massive blocks of stores, four or six stories high, 
you see buildings rather resembling country villas. 
They are mostly two stories high, quite spacious, built 
of brick, and plastered outside as well as in, so that 
they are generally white, though some are brown- 
washed. They have piazzas, or, as they are called 
here in the East — verandas, with Venetian blinds, on 
all sides. Each building stands quite by itself, sur- 
rounded by a fine yard, tastefully laid out aud orna- 
mented with flowers and shrubbery. These are the 
mercantile establishments, or Jiongs — the Chinese 
term for stores or places of business, because such 
buildings are usually in " ranges " or " rows." They 
occupy the west bank of the river for about a half 
mile in length, and extend inland half that distance. 
Those not on the river are accessible from it by nar- 
row streets. The water is so shallow near the shore 
that it has not been found practicable, as yet, to build 
wharves. Yessels are compelled to lay at anchor in 
the stream, and discharge and receive their cargoes 
by means of large boats, built under the direction of 
foreigners, expressly for the purpose. 



DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. 77 

There is a public promenade in front of the foreign 
hongs, thirty feet wide, and this is protected from 
being washed away by the inroads of high tides, by 
double rows of piles. Projecting from this about a 
hundred feet into the water, are several stone "jet- 
ties" or small wharves, twelve feet wide, to facilitate 
the landing and shipment of goods by the " cargo 
boats." The " bund" as this promenade is termed in 
oriental language, is alive with coolies — the substi- 
tutes for beasts of burden in China — carrying chests 
of tea, and bales of goods, slung from bamboo poles 
across their shoulders. 

I have only been speaking, it will be seen, of the 
foreign town of Shanghai, which is situated immedi- 
ately adjacent to the northern suburbs of the native 
city. The site of the former was occupied by rice 
fields ten years ago, yet so rapid has been its growth 
that more business is now done here than in Canton. 

Sailing up the Hwang-pu we at last arrived at our 
long-desired haven, and were received with open 
arms and hearts, by the missionaries of the Southern 
Baptist Board, the Rev. Messrs. Shuck, Yates, and 
Tobey, with their families. These brethren, though 
we were entire strangers to them, prompted only by 
their own kind, Christian feelings, had made arrange- 
ments for our accommodation, until we could rent a 
house, and had sent us a letter of welcome which met 
us at the, mouth of the Hwang-pu, off Wu-sung. 

How grateful such an unexpected mark of affec- 
tionate interest must have been to our feelings at such 
a time, the reader can best judge. " They shall, in 
no wise, lose their reward." 

The whole time that elapsed from our embarkation 



78 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

at Boston, till we landed at Shanghai on the 30th of 
September, was five months and one week. Our 
health has been remarkably good, and we certainly 
have cause for unbounded gratitude to our Heavenly 
Father for the many mercies that have attended us, 
and for our safe deliverance from the dangers of the 
deep. Especially are we thankful for the inestimable 
privilege of being numbered among the laborers in 
this vast and interesting portion of our Master's vine- 
yard. 4 

One of the first objects that now meets the eye, as 
you approach Shanghai by the river Hwang-pu, is 
the mission establishment of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States. It has been built at 
that point since our arrival — the very spot at that 
time being a rice-field. The Mission then occupied 
buildings rented from the natives, two miles further 
up the river, in the southern suburbs of the city. 
Those commodious houses and that neat church — all 
of brick, stuccoed, and white or drab-washed — have 
since been erected under the oversight of Bishop 
Boone, and flourishing missionary operations are 
there in full progress. Then, it was a half mile from 
the business portion of the foreign settlement, and 
separated from it by a wide creek ; but the creek has 
since been bridged, and New Shanghai, as it is called, 
has extended out to it, and even gone beyond. The 
dwellings of Dr. Bridgman, and the other ^mission- 
aries sent out by the "American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions " — composed of Con- 
gregation alists, Presbyterians, and Dutch Reformed 
— are adjacent to those of the Episcopal Mission. 
They all together present a neat and comfortable 



DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. , 79 

appearance from the river, on the bank of which they 
stand, or, rather, were built ; for new land has formed 
so rapidly, in a few years, by deposits from the 
muddy waters, that the bank is now quite a distance 
from them. 

There is also an English Episcopal Church on one 
of the back streets of the new town — the third run- 
ning parallel with the river. This is for the accom- 
modation of foreigners exclusively, and its services 
are conducted by a British chaplain, supported in 
part by the government which appoints him, and 
partly by the contributions of the foreign residents. 

The premises of the Loudon Missionary Society 
formed, at that time, the western limit of New 
Shanghai, and consisted of six white, two-story build- 
ings, in a line facing the south, each having a 
veranda or portico, in front, above and below. 
Several of them were of semi-Chinese architecture. 
The one on the extreme left was a hospital for natives, 
under the care of a very skillful, and amazingly 
energetic English surgeon and physician, Doctor Wil- 
liam Lockhart, to whom I was indebted, during the 
whole of my residence in Shanghai, for many pro- 
fessional and friendly courtesies. Immediately before 
each residence, the ladies of the household had culti- 
vated gardens, containing a great variety of flowers, 
plants, and shrubbery — rare, beautiful, and curious. 
A few rods in front of this line of dwellings, these 
missionaries had built a small chapel for services in 
English, which were held every Sunday morning at 
nine o'clock, especially for the benefit of their own 
families ; but all others were cordially welcomed, and 
invited to participate. A brick wall, eight feet high, 



80 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

inclosing several acres, surrounds the entire establish- 
ment. 

A small creek, named the Yang-king-pang — 
" Ocean-flowing stream " — running into the river from 
the west, forms the southern boundary of New 
Shanghai. It is crossed by several substantial stone 
bridges, from two of which there are densely-crowded 
streets, about eight feet wide, filled with Chinese 
shops and dwellings, closely built on each side. One 
of these streets leads to the " North Gate " of the city 
proper, the wall of which is about two hundred yards 
from the Yang-king-pang. The other leads from the 
bridge which crosses that creek near its entrance into 
the Hwang-pu, and follows the windings of the bank 
of that river for some distance, around the eastern 
face of the city wall, to the "Great East Gate." 
Thence, still on, between the wall and the river — the 
intervening space of a few rods in width being most 
densely packed with shops and dwellings — on to the 
"Little East Gate." Then, still continuing, it leads 
into the populous suburbs beyond the city on the 
south. The space between these two streets, on the 
one hand, and the Yang-king-pang and the northern 
portion of the city wall on the other, was occupied 
partly by the grounds of the French Consulate, and 
partly by innumerable graves and coffins. The latter 
are made of very thick pieces of wood, with the 
joints so well fitted and so tightly cemented — together 
with the fact that the bodies within are laid in lime — 
that no odor from them is ever perceived. They are 
placed promiscuously on the surface of the ground, 
with no regard to order or regularity, but always 
according to direction of a geomancer, who pretends, 



DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. 81 

by divination, to be able to determine precisely what 
position of the coffin — alike whether it is to be buried 
or to remain on the surface of the earth — will most 
conduce to the repose of the spirit of the departed. 
Accordingly, after going through sundry conjurations, 
with an air of great assumed solemnity and impor- 
tance, consulting his tables and his compass over and 
over again with the most exact minuteness, and 
squinting repeatedly along a line, he determines that 
the foot of the coffin must be placed in a certain 
direction — having it adjusted and re-adjusted till it 
does not deviate a hair's breadth from the point indi- 
cated. This custom accounts for the utter irregu- 
larity everywhere observed in the locality and posi- 
tion of coffins and graves. At the same time, there 
are many burial-grounds where the graves are placed 
close together, side by side. The conjurer occupies 
a length of time and assumes airs, in proportion to 
the amount he receives as a fee, and the social rank 
of the deceased person. Sometimes, a small house is 
built of brick over the coffin, completely incasing it, 
with a roof of tiles on the top, like that of a dwelling. 
A small aperture is left in one end or both, that the 
spirit may have free 'ingress and egress. It is stuc- 
coed and white-washed, and the little coffin-house, 
when finished, is not more than three feet high. 
There are also in that neighborhood, outside the 
North Gate, several spacious inclosures, surrounded 
by white walls, from ten to fourteen feet high, in 
which you may see scores, and even hundreds, of 
these thick, heavy coffins — all tenanted — more or less 
richly carved, painted, and gilded, according to the 

respective ability of individuals. , They are there 

4* 



82 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

placed in rows, and piled up in tiers one upon another 
under long sheds. They are generally the bodies of 
strangers, and are deposited with the expectation of 
beiDg at some time removed to the place whence the 
deceased came. The natives of each district or pro- 
vince, extensively represented here, have their own in- 
closure for this purpose. When a coffin, after remaining 
there for a certain number of years, is not claimed by 
the friends of the occupant, it is taken out and buried. 
I have seen twenty or thirty, at a time, thus interred, 
side by side in one long, wide ditch. There are also 
in these establishments handsomely-finished apart- 
ments, richly-gilded, idols, and spacious halls, for 
worship, or for feasting, as the occasion may demand. 
These depositories for the dead are called by the 
natives, way-kway ; and as there are many people 
from E~ing-po, Foh-kien, Canton, and other places, 
you will find here the Ning-po Way-kway, Kwang- 
tung Way-kway, Foh-kien Way-kway, and so on. 

In this same vicinity, several missionaries of the 
Southern Baptist Board had their dwellings very 
near the city wall ; while they had, in a most eligible 
site for securing congregations, the largest church 
edifice of any within the city. Its tall square tower 
is a conspicuous object from every direction, and 
commands the finest view, anywhere to be obtained, 
of the whole surrounding country for many miles. 

Spme little distance outside the city walls — one 
near the north gate, and the other beyond the west 
gate-rr-are two small structures of octagonal shape, 
built of brick, plastered and whitewashed. Each of 
these is about ten feet in diameter and fifteen or 
twenty in height. Its roof runs up, for a few feet, 



DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. 83 

forming a diminutive steeple. About ten feet from 
the ground are four openings in the sides, through 
which infants, who die when but a few months old, 
are thrown in promiscuously, being simply wrapped 
and tied in a bit of coarse cloth or matting. They are 
regarded as too young to have a spirit that would be at 
all distressed at the body being deprived of the ordi- 
nary rites of burial. By means of a ladder you may 
climb up the wall, and looking in at one of these open- 
ings, will see the place half-filled with these packages, 
some of which have been torn open and the contents 
half eaten by rats, that nightly feast on the tiny 
bodies. Lime is occasionally thrown in, to neutralize 
the disagreeable effluvium, that would otherwise ren- 
der any approach to these little charnel-houses into- 
lerable. But even this does not entirely obviate the 
difficulty, it only mitigates it. The foreigners resi- 
dent here, call these depositories, " baby towers." 

The wall around the city of Shanghai is in the form 
of an irregular ellipse, rather approaching to cir- 
cular. It is about thirty feet high and is built of 
dark slate-colored brick of very large size — being 
about a foot and a half long, by nine inches wide and 
three or four in thickness. At the foundation the 
wall is about four feet thick, gradually diminishing 
to two, at the top. This wall is greatly strengthened 
by a heavy bank of earth thrown up against it on the 
inner side and reaching to within from two to four 
feet of the top of the brick portion, which thus forms 
a parapet along its whole extent, with embrasures 
even" few feet, and provided with heavy bastions of 
brick about one hundred yards apart, around its 
entire circumference. There are 1246 of these walled 



81 FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

cities in China, differing of course in size and popu- 
lation. The wall of Shanghai is about four miles in 
circuit, and is surrounded by a moat, half tilled with 
stagnant, fetid water, black and thick with mud and 
filth. 

The top of the embankment varies from four to 
twelve feet in width, and affords a pleasant walk 
around the city. It has six gates. The north, great 
and little east, great and little south, and the west. 
The gateways are low, strong double arches of brick 
or stone. They are very skillfully constructed for de- 
fence against such assailants as they were designed to 
resist ; but like the other parts of the wall, of very 
little avail against foreign cannon. A projection of 
semi-circular wall, about thirty feet in diameter, is 
built out from the main wall. It is entered at the 
side, after crossing the bridge over the moat, in aline 
parallel with the wall, under the first massive arch. 
You then find yourself in the open semi-circular 
space, in which you see a sort of guardhouse and 
several shops. Then turning to the right you pass 
through the second arch, in a line at right angles 
with the first, and you are in the city. Each of these 
arched entrances has a heavy gate made of wood, and 
covered with thick iron plates which are fastened on 
with large rivets. It is hung on strong hinges, and is 
kept closed every night. The gate-keeper, however, 
will open it, and allow you to pass at any hour, provided 
he is satisfied you are not a robber or otherwise danger- 
ous person ; and provided further that you will give 
him a fee of two " coins," or " cash," as they are called 
by foreigners. These are small circular pieces of 
brass or copper, about an inch in diameter, having a 



DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. 85 

square hole in the middle for the purpose of being 
carried on strings. It is the only native coin in the 
empire — hence the general name — a coin. It has on 
one side two Chinese characters, signifying the name 
of the Emperor in whose reign it was issued, and two 
other — pau-tung — meaning "precious circulation." 
On the other side, are the same words in the Manchu 
Tartar language. Their relative value is from twelve 
to fifteen hundred for a dollar. An extensive busi- 
ness is carried on in the manufacture and circu- 
lation of spurious " coins," containing less copper 
than the genuine. Gold and silver are used in the 
form of lumps and bars, and their value estimated 
entirely by weight. A " tael " of silver is worth a 
dollar and a third. There is no paper currency, pro- 
perly speaking ; but there are banks of deposit and 
exchange. 

Standing on the wall, and looking over the city, 
the prospect is a wavy sea of low dark roofs of tiles, 
with here and there the taller one of a temple or some 
other public edifice, rising from the midst of the 
undistinguishable mass ; and now also perchance 
several of temples for the worship of the true and 
living God. 

Outside the city on the east, the thousands of junks 
in the river present a forest of masts surpassing in 
number that at New York. The streets are nar- 
row, varying from six to ten feet in width ; dark, 
filthy, and crowded with streams of living beings. 
They are also very irregular and winding ; but are 
mostly quite well paved with stone or brick ; some 
with large quadrangular pieces of stone which also, 
serve as the covering of the sewers that run beneath 



86 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

parallel with the sewers of living filth above them, 
along many of the streets. They serve^to receive and 
retain the foul matter, rather than conduct it off into 
the river, as seems to have been the original design ; 
for the site of the city is so low that at high tides the 
water is sometimes a foot deep in several of the gate- 
ways. Often at such times, I have been compelled to 
hire one of the barefooted Chinamen to carry me on 
his back through the gates. They are there with 
their trowsers rolled up, waiting for passengers, and 
are as clamorous for you to employ them, as are the 
hackmen and porters in an American city. 

You are every day, and at all hours of the day, 
meeting men in the narrow, crowded streets, carry- 
ing large wooden buckets of human excrement, 
which is sold for manure. This, with the numerous 
inks, shamelessly open and exposed on the public 
thoroughfares — occupants and all — constitutes one of 
the most annoying and disgusting nuisances of a 
Chinese town. 

As the buildings on these streets are all in close 
contact, there is no opportunity for windows in the 
sides. In order, therefore, to admit as much light 
as possible, the whole front is so constructed that it 
can be taken out, panel by panel, leaving the shop 
and its contents open to the street, the dwelling part 
of the house being generally in the rear, particularly 
in the business sections of the city. The roofs of the op- 
posite sides of the street project some two or three feet 
over the walls, and in walking through the narrow- 
est of the thoroughfares, so low have been the build- 
ings, that I have touched the opposite projecting 
roofs with my extended hands. 



DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. 87 

The pawnbrokers' establishments are among the 
most extensive and respectable places of business in 
the city. They cover a large area of ground, are sur- 
rounded by high strong walls, and are filled with 
thousands upon thousands of articles of ornament, of 
wearing apparel, and of household use. The busi- 
ness is conducted on precisely the same plan as in 
this country, but is far more reputable, and exceed- 
ingly lucrative. The proprietors of the two lar- 
gest in Shanghai are said to be millionaires. 

Looking into the shops, as you pass along these 
swarming streets, you will see every variety of trade, 
occupation, and handicraft carried on, that you have 
ever met with in a civilized country, and even others 
besides. Several branches that belong to one trade 
among us, are separate and constitute distinct ones 
in China. There are carpenters, masons, cabinet- 
makers, tailors, blacksmiths, locksmiths, braziers, 
painters, makers of boots and shoes for dry weather, 
i. e. of cloth or satin, with thick soles of felt, and 
makers of boots and shoes for wet weather — *. e. of 
leather with large-headed iron nails driven into the 
soles, to prevent the wearer from slipping. Then you 
will see makers of scissors and razors ; of combs and 
brushes ; of oiled paper lanterns ; of horn and glass 
lanterns ; of oiled paper umbrellas ; of artificial 
flowers ; trunk-makers ; tub and bucket makers ; 
needle-makers ; button makers ; hat and cap makers ; 
makers of hair pencils (the pen of the Chinese) ; sta- 
tioners ; makers of stringed instruments of music ; 
of wind instruments ; of drums ; weavers of ribbon ; 
makers of utensils of bamboo; rope-makers; spin- 
ners of sewing silk ; makers of fireworks ; makers of 



88 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA, 

pipes ; brokers' shops ; tobacco shops ; bankers' offices ; 
printing offices ; drug shops ; rice shops ; liquor 
shops ; provision shops ; eating houses ; tea-drinking 
taverns; opium smokers' dens; grocery stores; book 
stores; clothing stores ; silk stores; tea stores ; china 
ware stores ; cotton goods stores ; stone-cutters ; car- 
vers in wood ; carvers in ivory ; makers of idols ; 
manufacturers and sellers of wax candles, incense 
sticks, and gilt paper — all used in idolatrous wor- 
ship ; curiosity shops ; wood and coal shops ; dealers 
in brick and tiles ; lumber dealers ; oil shops ; makers 
of gold and silver ornaments ; millers ; butchers and 
barbers ; wholesale grocers ; dealers in lime and very 
coarse paper, which is used in making mortar, as we 
use hair ; makers of oyster-shell windows ; makers of 
spectacles ; cotton warehouses ; cotton-ginning and 
cotton-picking establishments ; and others " too nu- 
merous to mention." These are all plentifully fur- 
nished with customers by the teeming population of 
this city and its vicinity. 

These swarming myriads are very friendly in their 
disposition toward the foreigners, an4 are ever 
ready, willing, and often eager, to hear the Yah-Soo- 
taw-le — the " Jesus doctrines." Being a great mart 
both for trade with foreigners and the various parts 
of their own extensive country, thousands flock to it 
from almost every district in the interior, and are 
thus many of them brought under the sound of the 
Gospel ; for it is preached daily in five or six differ- 
ent chapels scattered throughout the city. Books and 
tracts are also distributed at these points- and by mis- 
sionaries in the streets, on board the junks, and at 
public places of resort, A large number of these 



DESCRIPTION OF SHANGHAI. 89 

silent messengers fall into the hands of strangers from 
the interior, who doubtless cany them home, and in 
many instances read them attentively and lend them 
to their neighbors. Not long since an intelligent 
man came here from many miles distant, sought out 
and found some of the missionaries, and informed 
them that he and his family had been induced to for- 
sake idolatry, from reading a religious tract that had 
been brought into his neighborhood from Shanghai. 
He came for the purpose of learning more fully these 
"new doctrines," and has himself written one or two 
tracts showing the absurdity of idol-worship. One 
day as I was walking out with a missionary who 
speaks the language fluently, a man pressed his way 
through the crowd that had gathered around us, as 
we stopped in one of the shops, saying he was from 
Nanking, and earnestly begged us to go there as 
there were no such teachers in that city. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HOUSES THEY LIVE IN. 

Materials used and Manner of Building — Floors — Oyster-shell Win- 
dows — Courts — Walls — Doors — Ornamental Work — Furniture — 
Idols — Ornaments — Wells — A Residence Procured — Servants-^- 
Cooking — Learning to Talk — Native Politeness— Civilities — Mode 
of Serving Tea — Smoking Tobacco— Opium — Snuff— Forms of Sa- 
lutation. 

Chinese houses are singular-looking affairs to one 
just arrived from the United States. They are gene- 
rally of one story ; though you will frequently meet 
with them one and a half or two stories high. In 
building them,- a slender frame of round posts, or 
large poles, is first put up, and then the thin brick 
walls are built in afterward, filling up the spaces 
between the posts and other parts of the remarkably 
well-fitted frame. The clay of which the bricks are 
made, is of a much darker color than that used in 
America, so that when burnt, the bricks are almost 
black. This would give the houses a very dark 
appearance, unless they were plastered and white- 
washed, which is usually the case. 

For the roof, the rafters are placed about six inches 
apart, and upon them are laid rows of thin flat bricks, 
close together, forming what the natives call the " tile 
floor," or floor for the tiles ; supplying the place of 
what our carpenters call " sheeting," for upon it rows 



THE HOUSES THEY LIVE IN. 91 

of curved tiles are laid in mortar, to prevent them from 
sliding. They also lap over each other so as to shed 
rain perfectly* The form of the roof is not always 
straight from the ridge to the eaves, as on our houses in 
the United States, but is often slightly concave as it 
slopes downward, giving it rather a graceful appear- 
ance. The four corners of the roofs of temples, public 
buildings, and the dwellings of some of the wealthy, 
curve upward for several feet and are decorated with 
ornamental stucco, carved work, and painting, and 
often have small bells or wooden imitations of them, 
hanging underneath. The houses of the poor, very 
frequently have merely the curved tiles, laid upon 
the rafters, without the thin brick " sheeting." 

The ground floor of nearly all Chinese dwellings is 
literally a ground floor, being nothing but the bare 
earth trodden hard, except the apartment in which 
visitors are received. This generally has a floor of 
large bricks, from a foot to a foot and a half square, 
very smoothly planed and nicely fitted together. In 
two-story houses, the second floor is made of plank, 
planed on one side. Which side do you suppose is 
placed upward ? Why, the smooth side, to be sure. 
By no means. The rough side is upward and the 
smooth side is nailed down upon the beams. Why 
is this ? Because the Chinese houses are never ceiled 
over-head, and the floor is nailed in this manner, so 
that the smooth surface of the plank may appear to 
those below. As the upper part is used only or 
chiefly for sleeping rooms, it is not considered at 
all important that they be either good-looking or 
cleanly. 

The windows, in those houses which have them at 



92 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

all, are of small pieces of oyster shell about two 
inches square, ground sufficiently thin simply to 
allow light to pass through, but you cannot see so as 
to distinguish objects through them — they are trans- 
lucent, but not transparent. These pieces are fitted 
into frames or sashes of little squares, differing in 
number according to the size of the window. The 
hinges, both of doors and windows, are always 
wooden ; very much like those of large gates you 
so often see at home. 

The two story — or, perhaps, it may more properly 
be called a story-and-a-half house, is one of the better 
sort of Chinese dwellings ; but instead of building it 
large enough to give them all the room they want, 
they frequently build two, three, and sometimes four, 
of nearly the same size and appearance, one behind 
another, from ten to twenty feet apart, and united by 
walls on each side. There is a small open court 
between the tenements, which are connected together 
by two narrow corridors — one on either side of the 
court. These corridors are four or five feet wide, and 
have oyster-shell windows opening into the court on 
one side, and the brick wall which forms the gable 
ends of each tenement, is continued for the whole 
length, and forms the other side. These two long 
high walls are usually the outer walls of the premi- 
ses on both sides, and constitute the separation from 
the neighbors. There is often a small building or 
gateway immediately on the street, in front of all the 
others, and you have to pass through this to get to 
the main entrance. This is a very heavy two-leaved 
door, made of thick pine plank, and is fitted in a high 
stone or brick wall, and fastened with a large wooden 



THE HOUSES THEY LITE IN. 93 

bar on the inside. Then at the rear of the whole 
establishment there is also a high wall, and this, too, 
has a gate or door, well secured like the one in front. 
These walls are necessary to protect the inmates from 
the attacks of thieves and robbers, who are very 
numerous in every part of China. 

The gateway in front is generally the most orna- 
mental, and fancifully- wrought mason work about the 
whole establishment. It frequently has figures of 
lions or tigers — such lions and tigers, however, as 
never existed, except in the imagination of the artist 
— carved in stone, and placed on the ground, one on 
each side of the door, to represent the guardians of 
the entrance. These images are always found at 
the gateways of temples, and of many other public 
buildings. Over the door, on a tablet, is a motto, or 
a moral maxim, from the writings of some of their 
ancient philosophers. This entrance opens into the 
first court, which is well paved with brick, and cross- 
ing it in the middle, is generally a walk of the same 
material, raised a few inches above the rest, and lead- 
ing directly into the lower room of the first tenement. 
This is always the reception room. The floor, as 
before mentioned, is of smoothly planed, nicely fitted 
tiles, or large square bricks. 

The furniture of this room usually consists of a 
square table placed against the side of the apartment, 
directly opposite the entrance, and then, on each 
side of the table are placed, alternately, chairs and 
small stands, a foot or so square at the top, for hold- 
ing the cup of tea, and the pipe and tobacco, that are 
invariably offered to all visitors. Sometimes these 
chairs and tea-stands are arranged around the sides 



94 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

of the room, and sometimes they are placed in two 
opposite rows ten or twelve feet apart, from the side 
of the table in the centre, in a straight line to each 
side of the entrance. There is generally, too, a pic- 
ture of some idol or of the family ancestors, hanging 
against the wall over the table, on which there are two 
candlesticks, sometimes very large, and elaborately 
wrought — one on each side — for burning red wax 
candles ; and a vessel of brass, pewter, or earthen- 
ware, containing ashes, into which sticks of incense 
are placed upright, and burned in worship to these 
painted representations. 

There are also ornamental paintings in water 
colors — or copies of favorite sayings of Confucius, or 
some other philosopher, or some quotations from 
their poets in very large characters — on scrolls about 
a foot wide and five or six feet long, mounted like 
maps, and suspended on the walls around the apart- 
ment. Gaudily adorned lanterns of paper, horn, or 
glass and of various shapes and sizes, with heavy silk 
tassels at the corners, hang from the joists, over- 
head. 

In the first and second courts, you will generally 
see flowers, plants and shrubbery — some of them 
very beautiful — in flower-pots often quite like those 
we have in America. Sometimes there is a fine 
large tree, which is valued highly, both for orna- 
ment and shade. In the third, fourth or last court, 
you will be likely to see round wooden or earthen 
wash-tubs and buckets, and a woman washing clothes. 
In the corner of this court is a well, having for its 
mouth, a round, or a five or six-sided, stone, about 
a foot and a half in diameter, and a foot high, a little 



THE HOUSES THEY LIVE IN. 95 

larger at the bottom than at the top. This stone has 
a hole cut through it, sufficiently large for a small 
bucket to pass through, but not large enough for a 
little child to fall through. So that, although only 
a foot higher than the brick pavement of the court, 
it is not dangerous to the children, of whom there is 
generally a plentiful supply. 

In one or two, and frequently in all the courts, you 
may see large earthen jars about the size of a barrel, 
placed in the corners to catch the rain water, which 
is much better than well-water. To facilitate this, 
the houses are furnished with eave-troughs, and the 
water is conducted from these to large jars through 
long bamboo poles, which being hollow, and having 
had the natural partitions at the joints forced out by 
a long iron rod — serve as well as the tin conductors 
that are attached to our houses for the same pur- 
pose. In some instances, these jars are kept always 
filled with water, to be used only in case of fire. 

In the summer time, the first and second courts 
are frequently provided with an awning of coarse 
cotton cloth, or of matting, as a protection from the 
rays of the sun ; or sometimes, instead of this, there 
is a shed or roof of small squares of oyster shell, 
which admit the light, but to some extent exclude 
the heat. Covered in this manner, the court has a 
table, it may be, placed in the centre, and chairs or 
benches at a little distance from it, for visitors, — so 
it becomes a summer sitting-room. 

Most of the foregoing description belongs to the 
dwellings of the wealthy. The abodes of the great 
majority of the people are dark, dirty, gloomy and 
comfortless, with floors of earth, often without win- 



96 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

dows ; with neither stoves nor fire-places. There is 
a kind of furnace or cooking-range, in which a fire is 
kept, only when cooking is required, because of the 
scarcity and expensiveness of fuel. 

After a diligent effort for about two weeks, during 
which we had shared the hospitalities of our South- 
ern Baptist Missionary friends, we succeeded in rent- 
ing a Chinese dwelling on the North Gate street, 
about half way between the narrow stone bridge 
across the Yang-king-pang and the wall of the city. 
It was one of the better sort ; but still, required con- 
siderable work to render it at all comfortable. Domi- 
ciled here at last, with a Chinese woman for a nurse 
to our little boy, and a young man for a cook and 
washer, we began, in good earnest, our life in China. 
Chinamen make excellent cooks, and they very 
readily learn our modes of culinary art. One of 
their modes of preparing a fowl for cooking, would 
seem to be a little singular. For instance, one day 
on looking into the kitchen, my wife saw, to her great 
horror, a chicken running about perfectly stript of its 
feathers — it had been plucked alive ! Whereupon 
she launched a volley of rather emphatic, and not 
very complimentary English, at the cook ; at which 
he seemed somewhat surprised, but not much wiser. 
With a small stock of the most common phrases, 
which had been furnished us by our kind friends, 
and such additions to it as we could make from day 
to day, in attempts at conversation with our servants ; 
together with the assistance of a native teacher whom 
I had employed, we gradually succeeded in making 
ourselves understood. But it was often in a most 
amusing, as well as imperfect manner. Intercourse 



THE HOUSES THEY LIVE IN. 97 

with the people in onr daily walks, we also found 
very serviceable in promoting onr acquaintance with 
the colloquial dialect of Shanghai. The inhabitants 
are always civil and affable, greeting us with smiles 
and polite salutations. In this respect, they present 
the strongest contrast with the people of Canton. 
Especially, when you enter their dwellings, are you 
welcomed in the most hospitable style. They urge 
you to sit, and then immediately have cups of tea 
made and placed on small stands before you, and you 
are solicited to u eat tea." A teaspoonful of the leaves 
is first put into the cup, then boiling w r ater is 'poured 
upon them, and the very small saucer is placed on 
the top to prevent the escape of the aroma. A half of 
a green olive is also added when a particularly deli- 
cate flavor is desired. As soon as it becomes suffi- 
ciently cool, they begin to sip it through an opening 
made between the saucer and the cup, by sliding the 
former a little to one side. Milk and sugar are never 
used by them. Pipes and finely cut, mild tobacco, 
are also brought at the same time, and you are 
importuned to " eat smoke." Smoking opium — the 
only mode in which that drug is used — is called, 
" eating the great smoke? They never chew, nor do 
they make cigars ; but excellent snuff is made and 
used to a considerable extent. It is carried in a very 
small, curious, and sometimes very costly vial, to the 
stopper of which is attached a diminutive spoon of 
horn, shell, gold or silver. The small quantity of 
snuff dipped out by it, is deposited on the back of 
hand, whence it is taken up on the back of the long 
thumb-nail, and transferred to the nostrils. The 
bowl of the pipe is so very small as to require replen- 

5 



98 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

ishing after two or three whiffs. Metallic pipes of 
one variety, are so constructed that the smoke passes 
through water before it is inhaled. 

The salutation between two Chinamen when they 
meet, consists in each clasping and shaking his own 
hands, instead of each other's, and bowing very pro- 
foundly, almost to the ground, several times. A 
question more common than "How do you do?" — is, 
" Have you eaten rice ?" This being the great staple 
article of food throughout the empire, and forming 
the chief, and indispensable part of every meal — it is 
taken for granted that if you have " eaten rice," you 
are well. 

Etiquette requires that in conversation, each should 
compliment the other and everything belonging to 
him, in the most laudatory style ; and depreciate him- 
self with all pertaining to him, to the lowest possible 
point. The following is no exaggeration, though 
not the precise words : 

" "What is your honorable name ?" 
" My insignificant appellation is Wong." 
" Where is your magnificent palace ?" 
" My contemptible hut is at Suchau." 
" How many are your illustrious children ?" 
" My vile, worthless brats are five." 
" How is the health of your distinguished spouse I" 
" My mean, good-for-nothing old woman is well." 
In leaving his house you must lack along out, 
bowing to the host and shaking your hands all the 
way. He follows you, doing the same, and repeat- 
ing, " Slowly go, slowly, slowly go." This is to sig- 
nify his reluctance at your departure. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CHINESE BEGGARS AND CHINESE COSTUMES. 

Beggary — Dead Bodies — Starvation — Benevolence of Foreigners — 
Gipsies — Extreme Suffering — Drowned — Loathsomeness and Filth 
— Regular Organization — ' ' Beggar-King " — -Regulations — Punish- 
ments — Beating — Cutting off the Queue — Description of the dif- 
ferent Articles of Dress — Mode of Dressing the Hair — The Queue — 
Headbands — Hats and Caps — Long Nails — Use of Long Sleeves — 
Materials of Clothing — A Novel Thermometer — Winter Clothing- 
Boots and Shoes — Mode of indicating Official Rank — Yellow, the 
Imperial Color — Mark of Respect to Age — Binding the Feet of 
Females — Origin of the Custom. 

One portion of the people most frequently encoun- 
tered in our daily walks and most revolting in aspect, 
is composed of the beggars. Mendicancy constitutes 
a regular, occupation, and is followed by vast num- 
bers. The squalid filth and wretchedness of this class 
of the population is indescribable. Nearly every 
time I have walked through the city, I have seen one 
or more dead in the streets. One afternoon as I was 
crossing a bridge, there sat a man on the stone steps, 
very thin and haggard, apparently asleep. The next 
morning as I passed the same way, he lay stretched 
out, a lifeless corpse. Again, on a very cold morning 
after a rain, I saw two men, with scarcely rags 
enough to cover them, lying dead within a few feet of 
each other. The Chinese do not manifest the least con- 



100 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

cern at these sights, and it is not surprising, perhaps, 
when you bear in mind that they see them every day. 
The dead bodies lie exposed until the city authori- 
ties have them placed in the rudest possible coffins* 
and removed. They are then taken to a public bury- 
ing-ground and piled one upon another, five or six 
deep, in a trench which is kept always open, a little 
earth being thrown on the upper coffin of the pile, 
and then another tier is begun immediately against 
the exposed sides of the last. 

For several winters, some of the benevolent for- 
eigners at Shanghai have established and sustained by 
subscription a "soup kitchen," from which hundreds 
of beggars and other destitute poor of the native pop- 
ulation receive a bowl of rice soup, or congee, every 
morning. Tickets are distributed to them on a bridge 
crossing a canal not far from the kitchen ; and each 
one receiving his ticket can pass over and get his 
bowl of congee. Strange as it may appear, a kind of 
brokerage is carried on with these tickets, and many 
particularly opium smokers, who prefer a few " cash " 
to lay out in the purchase of this pernicious drug, will 
sell their tickets at half their value, even while they 
are almost starving for want of food. So inveterate 
is the grasp by which this destructive habit holds its 
victims. Such an assemblage of squalid wretchedness 
as congregates each morning at the bridge before 
mentioned, to receive " tickets for soup," you cer- 
tainly »ever saw, and would find it difficult to ima- 
gine. Beggars of every possiblejlescription, from 
decrepit age to prattling infancy — many clad in mats 
of straw, with not even a rag of cloth, literally speak- 
ing, to screen them from the cold or to hide their 



CHINESE BEGGAK3 AND CHINESE COSTUMES. 101 

nakedness — while others, a little better off, are sup- 
plied with rags, and that is all. I have seen them 
wearing nothing but a mat of straw, about seven feet 
long and two feet wide, with a hole in the middle, 
through which the head is thrust, while the sides, 
arms, and legs were entirely naked. One morning, 
when hundreds were collected on the bridge, the rail- 
ing on one side gave way and many fell into the 
creek. One poor fellow was drowned, I dragged him 
out, and tried to resuscitate him, but in vain. Another, 
who was rescued barely alive, died in the afternoon. 
There is a class who correspond to the character and 
habits of gipsies in Europe, and who flock to Shang- 
hai in winter, and disappear with the return of warm 
weather. With these, also, as with a vast number of 
constant residents here, beggary is a regular business, 
and they in particular, seem to thrive on it, for a fat- 
ter, healthier looking set of people than many of these 
gipsy-beggars you never saw. They come among the 
rest, to avail themselves of the bounty of the foreign- 
ers, and it is often quite an interesting, not to say 
an affecting sight, to see a mother with a fat, chubby, 
smiling, naked babe, suspended in her bosom by a 
band of rags passing over her shoulders. This little 
nursling is taught, as soon as it can direct its tiny 
arms, to hold out its hand to every passer-by for a 
cash or two. It is impossible to resist the mute 
pleading of these pretty gipsy babies, and if you go 
out with a pocket full of copper cash, you will find it 
empty when you return, if many of these beggars 
have crossed your path. 

On one occasion, as Mrs. T. and myself were walk- 
ing out, we discovered a beggar indulging in great 



102 FIVE YEABS IN CHINA. 

glee over a very small dead pig which he had just 
found in a ditch, and at another time we saw one of 
the same wretched class, rejoicing in the possession of 
a dead cat which he had picked up a moment before. 
Its appearance indicated that it had been dead for seve- 
ral days. No language can adequately describe the 
loathsome filth and misery of this portion of the 
native population. On any pleasant morning, you 
may see numbers of them sitting in the sunshine on 
the city wall, picking and eating the vermin from 
each other's bodies. These pitiable human beings exist 
in great numbers, and nothing but the Gospel, 
operating upon the hearts of the rulers and legisla- 
tors, and changing the whole social condition of the 
people, can effect any permanent amelioration of this 
sad state of things. This leaven is doubtless already 
beginning to work its way silently though slowly 
through the great mass of this vast population. Of the 
hundreds who daily hear the Word of Life in five or 
six Protestant churches, we cannot but believe that 
here and there, one receives it in " a good and honest 
heart," and that it is taking root to manifest itself 
again, as " first the blade, then the ear, and after that 
the full corn in the ear." 

In every large city there is a vast organization of 
these mendicants, to which every one who begs for a 
livelihood must belong. At the head of it is one 
styled the " Beggar-King." His authority is absolute, 
and to him all the others are amenable. It has a 
code of laws and regulations. Every beggar has a 
right, according to universal custom, to stand at the 
door of a dwelling or shop, and bawl, sing, knock, 
or make any other noise he may please, till the occu- 



CHINESE BEGGARS AND CHINESE COSTUMES. 103 

pant gives him one coin. Then he is obliged to 
desist, and can apply at the same place no more on 
that day. No two are allowed to importune to- 
gether at one place. Yet they are so numerous that 
few doors are free from their clamorings long at a 
time. The proprietors of large establishments, who 
prefer to " commute," and save themselves from the 
annoyance of these continual visitations, can do so by 
paying a certain sum at once, to the " king of the 
beggars ;" who thereupon causes a written statement 
in large characters, to that effect, to be pasted by the 
side of the door, and this procures for that house cer- 
tain exemption. No beggar dares approach it ; for, 
though very few of them can read, all recognize the 
seal of their chief upon the paper, and if any one 
transgress he may either be beaten by the inmates of 
the shop or dwelling, or will be more severely chas- 
tized if reported to the king. Every beggar has his 
own particular district, or " beat," assigned him, in 
which he may exercise his vocation, beyond which he 
must not go, on pain of punishment. They have their 
regularly appointed overseers, who have supervision 
over all in a certain ward or district. They must go 
to him every night and hand over a definite amount 
from the proceeds of each day. These overseers, in 
turn, pay a fixed sum daily or monthly to the king, 
whose income is said to be very large ; and indeed, 
it must be, for he lives like a nabob, in a style of great 
comparative luxury and elegance. If a beggar com- 
mit an offence against the laws he is not arrested by 
the constables like any other offender, but is reported 
or taken to the " king," who is held by the city mag. 
istrates, responsible for his punishment and good 



104 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

behavior. But this process is too slow, troublesome, 
and uncertain, for the aggrieved people who are con- 
stantly suffering from the depredations of these thiev- 
ing vermin, and they themselves generally adminis- 
ter an impromptu castigation upon the poor wretch 
when caught. This often consists in tying his hands 
behind his back with one end of a long cord, and 
throwing the other over a limb of the nearest tree, 
drawing him up in his painful position, till his toes 
barely rest on the ground. They then beat him most 
unmercifully with sticks, clubs, fists, or anything that 
first comes to hand, till the miserable creature is half 
dead. Their vitality and power of endurance are 
amazing. I once saw one thus beaten, and when at 
last released, he fell down as if about to die ; but no 
sooner had the crowd moved off a few rods, leaving 
him as they thought, perhaps, for dead, than the fel- 
low leaped to his feet and ran like a deer. It was 
wonderful, how he could u play possum." 

Cutting off the queue is another form of punish- 
ment, and one sorely deprecated by a Chinaman. It 
is a badge of disgrace equal to branding on the cheek, 
and is often practised on these beggars. 

Black hair and black eyes are as universal as among 
the North American Indians. The only exceptions 
I have ever seen were albinos. 

The queue is the most noticeable feature in a China- 
man's appearance, for it hangs down his back, some- 
times reaching to his heels, as he walks along. The 
heads of Chinese children, girls as well as boys, are 
shaven all over several times before they are a year 
old. Then, in a year or two more, two small round 
patches of hair are suffered to grow just above the 



CHINESE BEGGARS AND CHINESE COSTUMES. 105 

ears, near the top of the head. "When the hair from 
these becomes long enough, it is braided into two 
little tufts that project like horns on a cow. Then, 
after this, it is all shaven off again, and on the head 
of a boy the round spot is marked out on which it is 
afterward to grow until it becomes long enough for 
a queue. A quantity of black silken cord is braided 
in with the hair, both to facilitate the plaiting and 
increase its length. 

On the heads of girls, the hair is still shaven around 
the edges, till they become twelve or fourteen years 
old, and daring this time they wear a black silk 
fringe around the head, hanging over the forehead 
and temples, and down the back of the neck. The 
remainder of the hair they put up in a graceful knot 
a little to one side of the head, and frequently wear 
flowers in it, giving them a very pretty appearance. 
When they become young women, the silken fringe 
is laid aside, the whole of the hair is permitted to 
grow, is combed back from the face, and put up on 
the back of the head, being kept in place by several 
long, ornamental pins of brass, silver, or gold, accord- 
ing to the ability of the wearer. They also wear a 
thick band around the head, about two inches wide, 
pointed in the middle upon the forehead, and gradu- 
ally becoming narrower, till it ends in two strings at 
the back, where it is tied under the hair. This band 
is often very beautifully wrought with silk and gilt 
lace, and generally has a round ornament, somewhat 
resembling a breast-pin, and sometimes very costly, 
fastened in the middle at the widest point. The 
women never wear any other covering on the head, 
except those who work in the fields during hot 

5* 



106 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

weather. These frequently have a kind of straw hat, 
not unlike a large tin pan turned bottom side up- 
ward, with a round hole in the middle, for the braid 
of hair to project through. This also serves to keep 
the hat on the head. 

The nails are worn long, especially those of the 
little fingers, and are often seen as long as the fingers 
themselves. Ladies sometimes wear a golden sheath 
over the nail to prevent it from being broken. This 
sheath fits on the finger like a thimble, and is thus 
kept in place. 

The men and boys wear very large, loose draw- 
ers, which are held up by a kind of band, pass- 
ing around the waist and tying before. The China- 
man carries his purse suspended by a loop from this 
band in front. The second garment is his shirt, on 
the upper part of the body, and hangs down a little 
over the top of his drawers. The third is much like 
the second, and may be called an outer shirt, and the 
fourth is not very different from the other two, in 
size, form, and the material of which it is made — all 
three reaching but little below the waist, and having 
sleeves nearly a foot longer than the arm, and about 
as much in width. These sleeves are often used as 
pockets ; for in them he carries his handkerchief, and 
frequently a small package. The sleeve is also' a 
receiver of stolen goods : for I once knew of a well- 
dressed Chinaman who took a small clock from my 
friend's room, concealed it in his sleeve, and as it was 
not missed at the moment, nor did he seem to have 
anything in his hands when he left, he escaped 
with it. Next comes a long gown, reaching nearly 
to the feet, which is fastened around the waist by a 






CHINESE BEGGARS AND CHINESE COSTUMES. 107 

long silken sash. After this, another, of the same 
length and pattern ; then, lastly, the coat or outer 
garment of all, which nearly resembles the shirt in 
its shape, reaching about half-way down the body. 
All these articles have several common points of 
resemblance. In the first place, they never fit the 
wearer, being always very large and awkward. 
Secondly, they all open in front, and fasten by means 
of small round buttons — not all in a straight row 
up and down ; but one at the neck, then a second on 
the breast, a little toward the right side, and the third 
still lower and further outward, the fourth on the 
side, under the arm, and then one more directly 
downward near the end of the garment. A set of 
buttons invariably consists of five. About the neck 
they wear a narrow, closely-fitting collar, of velvet 
or satin, sewed upon thick pasteboard. 

The materials of which their clothing is made are 
as various as the ability of the individuals — the 
poorest, of coarse, cotton cloth, generally blue — then, 
many of silks, satins, velvet, broadcloth, and furs — 
all being wadded with cotton, and quilted for winter. 
In summer they wear but two or three thin, light gar- 
ments of cotton, linen, or silk. A Chinaman's cloth 
ing constitutes his thermometer. For instance, he 
will say, "To-day is three jackets cold, and if it in- 
creases at this rate, by to-morrow it will be four or 
five jackets cold." Their stockings are made of white 
cotton cloth, cut so as to fit the foot as well as pos- 
sible. These also are wadded and quilted for winter. 
The Chinese know nothing of knitting, and they 
greatly admire our stockings, readily admitting their 
superiority over their own. Their stockings come up 



108 FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

quite to the knees, over the drawers, and are often 
fastened with handsomely embroidered garters. 
There are exceptions to the statement that Chinese 
garments never fit. They frequently wear a singular 
kind of pantaloons that fit the leg as tightly as pos- 
sible, and tie with long silken strings outside the 
stockings % on the ankles; but each leg is entirely 
separate from its fellow, and is put on and pulled off 
by itself. These are often made of various-colored, 
figured silks and satins, and are kept in place by a 
button or loop at the top of each leg, one on the right 
side, and the other on the left, fastening to the band 
around the waist. 

Their shoes are made of cloth and velvet, of dif- 
ferent colors, never have elevated heels, are widest 
at the toes, where they turn up, and have soles from 
a half an inch to two inches in thickness. They are 
very awkward and clumsy. The wealthy, the literati, 
and the mandarins, often wear boots of black satin. 
Leathern boots and shoes are only worn in wet and 
rainy weather, and they always, to prevent slipping, 
have the soles driven full of large-headed nails, which 
make a great clattering on the pavements. Little 
children often wear caps and shoes embroidered with 
silk of various colors : and, indeed, their whole dress 
is very richly embroidered when the parents can 
afford it. They also wear charms and amulets to 
ward off disease, and to keep away evil spirits. 

Chinese hats and caps are of three or four dif- 
ferent forms. One kind fits closely to the head, 
resembling, in shape, the scooped-out rind of half a 
watermelon. Hence they themselves call it the 
" watermelon cap." It is made of different materials 



CHINESE BEGGARS AND CHINESE COSTUMES. 109 

and colors — has a wide thick band around the edge, 
with no front-piece, but a knob of silken cord on the 
top, by which it is handled. If you have ever been 
into a hat shop, and have seen a hat before it has 
been shaped, just imagine its rim turned up half way 
to the top, and you will have a pretty correct idea of 
the appearance • of the second and most common 
kind. It is made of dark brown felt. There is a 
third, of the same general form and outline as the 
last, only it is made of velvet and satin, having stiff 
pasteboard for its foundation, which keeps it always 
in shape. This is the handsomest and most expen- 
sive kind worn. It has a heavy tassel of red silk 
fastened on the top by a brass knob, and hanging 
around on the crown. Among mandarins, the color 
and materials of this knob denote their rank. A 
gilt one is worn by the lowest, a white stone by the 
next, a clear crystal by the third, a pale blue precious 
stone by the fourth, a deep blue one by the fifth, a 
a pale red by the sixth, a deep red by the seventh, 
and this is the highest. The last four mentioned 
grades may wear a peacock's feather, by special per- 
mission from the Emperor, for distinguished merit. 

As yellow is the Imperial color, it is not allowed to 
be conspicuous in the garments of the people. But 
as a mark of respect to advanced age, men who have 
lived ninety years may receive permission by a spe- 
cial edict from the " Son of Heaven " — one of the 
titles which the Emperor arrogates to himself — to 
wear yellow clothing ; and this token of imperial 
consideration, entitles them to particular reverence 
from the people. If they are so poor as to be com- 
pelled to beg for a sustenance, as is not unfrequently 



110 FIYE YEARS IN CHINA. 

the case, their yellow rags are a passport to public 
charity. Some of the garments worn by the females 
much resembles those of the other sex. Instead, 
however, of the long gown, the woman wears a very 
narrow skirt, plaited vertically, and open on both 
sides up to the waist. It is like two aprons, one 
behind and the other before. But the strangest pecu- 
liarity of Chinese females, consists in the unnatural 
and cruel compression of the feet. The practice is 
universal — among the poor as well as the rich, with 
this difference ; that the rich first bind the feet of the 
female infant during the earlier months of its life, 
while the poor — knowing it will be necessary for 
their child to wait upon herself and work for a living, 
allow her first to learn to walk, and then, at the age 
of five or six years, bind the feet. Of course, under 
such circumstances, they never become so small as 
those bound at an earlier period. The method is, to 
turn all the toes, except the great one, under the foot, 
and then apply tightly a bandage of strong cotton 
cloth, about two yards long and two inches wide. 
This is never removed except to tighten it, or apply 
a new one. This whole process is exceedingly pain- 
ful and produces inflammation and suppuration, 
resulting in settled disease and deformity. It is 
exceedingly doubtful whether they are ever free from 
pain, and the marvel is how they can ever walk at 
all. The gait is an awkward hobbling, precisely like 
your own while walking on your heels. 

One day, as Mrs. T. and myself were passing a 
Chinese dwelling of the poorer class, we heard most 
piteous and imploring screams. On looking in at the 
open door, we saw a mother binding the feet of her 



CHINESE BEGGARS AND CHINESE COSTUMES. Ill 

little girl, who was seated on a high bench. We have 
seldom seen such a look of anguish as marred that fair, 
young face ; and such an expression of cruel indif- 
ference to the torture of her child as rested on the 
countenance of the mother. "We remonstrated and 
entreated ; but in vain. The reply was, u it is the 
custom of the people in the Middle country ;" and 
custom was law — it was inexorable. Is not u fashion " 
equally omnipotent in the lands of boasted civiliza- 
tion and Christianity ? And yet to this practice 
there are exceptions. The females who spend their 
lives on boats seldom bind their feet ; for as there is 
generally more or less motion to the boats, it would 
be almost impossible to stand. None of the Tartar 
females have their feet compressed, as I afterward 
discovered at Nanking, while on a visit to that 
ancient capital, hereafter to be described, nor do those 
who are received into Buddhist nunneries in child- 
hood. The little girls who come to the mission board- 
ing-schools are received on the express condition that 
their feet are to be allowed their natural growth. 

The origin of this custom is quite obscure. My 
Chinese teacher could not enlighten me on that point. 
When I suggested to him the possibility that it was 
introduced by the men, who, perhaps, had been 
greatly annoyed by the gadding propensities of their 
wives, the old man laughed, and thought very likely 
that was the true history. There is a tradition of the 
manner in which it originated, that has some shadow 
of probability. It is related, that many hundreds of 
years ago, an imperial princess was deformed in her 
feet from her birth ; and that, when she became old 
enough to walk, the officers at her father's court had 



112 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

the feet of their own daughters, who were her play- 
mates, compressed till they resembled hers, so as to 
save her from mortification, and to give them no 
advantage over her. This circumstance becoming 
known, the fashion was adopted at once throughout 
the empire. If this was true, it certainly, to say the 
least, placed her on an equal footing with other little 
girls of her age. 

One of the first things in the appearance of a for- 
eign lady in China, that attracts attention and elicits 
remark from the native females, is the size of her feet. 
They speak of it, however, to approve the usage as 
far more natural, pleasant, convenient/and preferable 
in every respect, and express the wish that such were 
the case among themselves ; but confess that they, as 
well as their feet, are bound by the tyrant custom. 



CHAPTER IX. 



CHINESE NEW YEAR. 



Worship in Temples— Costume — Gloves — Furs — Amusing Appear- 
ance of Children — " City Guardian's Temple " — Being taken for an 
Idol — Temple of Confucius — Burning Articles for the use of the 
Dead — Manner of Mourning — Immense number of Graves — Gene- 
ral Appearance of surrounding Country — Tenanted Coffins kept 
in Dwellings — Coffins left unburied in the Fields — A Settlement of 
Beggars — Their Condition — Tricks to excite Compassion — The 
Blind — A Native little Girl — Religious Instruction — Discourage- 
ments — Encouragements. 

In my journal I find the following record : 

Jan. 25, 1849. — Yesterday was the Chinese New 
Year's Day, and I went at an early hour, to one of 
the principal temples, to witness the offerings made 
to the idols. Although it was before sunrise, great 
numbers had already paid their annual devotions, 
and the ashes in the vessels before the idols, plainly 
indicated that bunches of incense-sticks had been 
burning through the whole night. Thirty or forty 
red wax candles were burning at the same time, in 
honor of these imaginary deities. Not long after I 
reached the spot the people began to come in crowds, 
comprising persons of both sexes, of every age, rank, 
an odition, from the mandarins down to the poor- 
est of the working class ; but I saw no beggars. 
Each individual was attired in his best, and the dress 



114 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

of many of the ladies was really splendid. Although 
very costly, there was too great a profusion of orna- 
ment to comport with our ideas of good taste. The 
head was covered with trinkets of gold and silver, 
and flowers, real and artificial. The hair is always 
smoothly combed and neatly put up. Their dresses 
were of the most superb silks and satins, very beau- 
tifully embroidered with bright colors, and with gold 
and silver lace. The feet were so small that they 
could not walk, nor even stand, without great 
difficulty, and they hobbled along, leaning on the 
shoulders of waiting maids. The men wear long 
coats reaching nearly to the feet, made of rich dark 
satins and silks, plain and figured — or of broadcloth ; 
and short ones of similar materials over these, reach- 
ing to the hips. They are provided with very large 
sleeves, much longer than their arms, in order to pro- 
tect the hands from cold, as they have nothing in the 
shape of gloves. There is no part of my dress which 
attracts so much notice from the Chinese, as my 
gloves. Wherever I go, they at once point good- 
naturedly to my hands, and generally pull off my 
gloves and put them on their own hands, with ex- 
pressions of mingled delight and surprise, evidently 
much pleased to find how admirably the article an- 
swers the end for which it is designed. 

As the winters are excessively cold, vast quantities 
of furs are worn, many of them remarkably elegant 
and very expensive. Great quantities are annually 
brought from Tartary and Siberia by traders, who 
come in large caravans, to be more secure against 
attacks from the roving tribes infesting the regions 
through which they pass. The poorer of the people 



CHINESE NEW YEAE. 115 

wear sheepskins, which are very well prepared, and 
when new, are as white as snow. These, as well as 
the finer furs, are made to resemble a large cape, com- 
pletely covering the shoulders, back; and arms. 
Many of the men have long fur robes, or overcoats, as 
we should call them, covering the whole body. Then 
they have small coverings for the ears, like pockets, 
lined with fur or with silk, wadded with cotton. 

Frequently, too, you may see them with the head 
and hat entirely covered with a kind of large cape- 
like hood, of red and blue cloth, which comes down 
under the chin, having only a small round opening 
for the face, and effectually protecting the whole 
head and neck from the cold, as well as the shoulders 
in part, for it extends down in a point to the middle 
of the back. 

It would be difficult to tell how many separate ar- 
ticles of clothing the Chinese wear at once in the 
winter season ; but certain it is, that on the approach 
of cold weather they begin to put on, adding one 
garment after another, until they swell nearly to 
the size of a large barrel, for they do not diminish 
any from the number till the return of warm wea- 
ther, and as many of them do not undress even to go 
to bed, they do not, as far as I can learn, take off 
their clothes until they are worn out, or until com- 
pelled by the heat of summer. The streets being 
very narrow, and generally crowded, if you go out 
on a very cold day, you cannot avoid jostling against 
men, women, and children, like so many animated 
bales of cotton. The arms are forced out nearly into 
a horizontal position by the immense mass of cotton 
and furs around the body, being themselves enve- 



116 FIVE YEAE8 IN CHINA. 

loped in a due proportion of the same materials. I 
have seen children clad in this manner, so that I can 
say, I think without exaggeration, that the diameter 
through the body was equal to its perpendicular 
height. If once a little fellow falls down, or rather 
rolls over, he is utterly unable to get up without as- 
sistance. But this is quite a digression. 

On the day of which I speak, the great number 
who came to pay their New Year offerings to their 
idols, either brought with them, or purchased at the 
entrance, one or more red wax candles, a bunch of in- 
cense-sticks, and a quantity of gilt or silvered paper, 
all of which they presented to one of the attendant 
Buddhist priests, whose duty it was to receive and 
burn them before the idol, while the devotee kneeled 
on a low bench, clasped his hands, and bowed pro- 
foundly to his god a number of times. All distinctions 
of rank seemed to be lost sight of during these cere- 
monies, for by the side of the most wealthy knelt the 
poorest, paying their devotions at the same moment. 

The temple is called the " Ching hwang miau" — 
" City guardian's temple." It is one of the principal 
in the city, and is certainly the most frequented. It 
is a very dark and gloomy building inside, its walls 
and roof blackened by the smoke from the burning 
incense, gilt or silvered paper, and the immense 
number of red wax candles that are continually burn- 
ing before the idols. The principal one is a large, 
ugly figure, richly gilt, in a sitting posture, surround- 
ed by many others as attendants. I was freely ad- 
mitted to every part of the building, and while stand- 
ing in a dark recess, a well-dressed female, just en- 
tering the temple from the back way, observed me 



CHINESE NEW YEAR. 117 

by the dim light, and as I stood perfectly still, she 
took me for one of the deities, and bowing several 
times most reverently, she passed on to her devotions, 
probably congratulating herself that she had propiti- 
ated at least one of the grim-looking monsters that 
inhabited the place. Yon may be assured that I did 
not feel very highly complimented at being classed 
in such company. 

I left the place with a burdened heart, praying 
that a brighter day might soon dawn on this dark 
land of paganism. 

On the afternoon of the same day, we went to the 
temple of Confucius. It consists of several spacious 
buildings in a large inclosure, and the whole has an 
air of cleanliness, arising, probably, from the fact 
that it is much less frequented than the other tem- 
ples in the city. -There is no image of the sage, but 
simply a wooden tablet, on which his name is in- 
scribed, in large gilt characters. This is set up in a 
kind of recess, behind curtains of rich yellow silk, 
and before it is an altar on which incense is burnt to 
his spirit. This shrine is called " his spiritual seat," 
and he is regarded by his worshippers as taking 
cognizance of their devotions. As you approach this 
main building, which, though but one story, is about 
fifty feet high — there are, on either side of the large 
court, two others, much lower, about a hundred feet 
in length, and about the same distance apart, contain- 
ing the tablets of two or three hundred other sages, 
of less renown. However high the veneration in 
which the Chinese hold Confucius and his associates, 
represented by their tablets, you would infer that 
their worship is not very popular, from the exhibition 



118 FIVE TEAKS DC CHINA. 

of that day, for while all the temples we saw contain- 
ing idols were thronged, we found not a solitary indi- 
vidual who had come to pay homage to the only one 
of all their deities deserving the least regard. Offer- 
ings of slain animals are presented to his spirit at 
this temple twice a year, but they have not taken 
place since our arrival. 

The practice among the Chinese of burning articles 
for the use of the dead is well known. They suppose 
their deceased relatives to have a kind of spiritual ex- 
istence, in such a condition, however, as to require the 
use of houses, servants, clothing, house-keeping uten- 
sils, money, etc., just as they did while living. They, 
therefore, provide houses of straw or bamboo, vary- 
ing in size, costliness, and completeness of furniture, 
according to the wealth and station of the parties — 
from the dimensions of a bushel basket to those of 
an actual dwelling — and, by burning these, they be- 
lieve they send them to their departed friends. There 
are thousands of persons in this city alone, who get 
their livelihood by the manufacture of articles for the 
use of the dead, principally of a substitute for money, 
made of thin paper, having a slight coating of tin foil. 
It is cut in pieces of such form as to resemble a boat, 
when pasted together, and great numbers of these 
small paper boats are strung together on a thread, 
and thus committed to the flames, with the firm be- 
lief that the persons for whom they are designed act- 
ually receive so many pieces of sycee silver, which is 
of the same form, and constitutes the chief silver cur- 
rency of China. These masses of silver, called by 
foreigners sycee — a corruption of the Chinese name, 
" si-sz" meaning " fine floss," to denote its purity — 



CHINESE NEW YEAR. 119 

vary in value according to the weight — from twenty 
to fifty dollars. Real articles of clothing are burnt 
with the same intent, and the same confident expecta- 
tions. 

From the window of my dwelling, but a few days 
since, I saw the actual dress necessary for a man? 
spread out upon some straw and set fire to, while two 
women were standing by, uttering most doleful lament- 
ations, which I was charitable enough to regard as 
real, until one of them stopped short in the midst of 
her cries, and, with the utmost coolness imaginable, 
requested a man who was present, as well as I 
could understand, to set fire to the straw on the other 
side, as the wind was blowing from a direction unfa- 
vorable to the rapid extension of the flames — prob- 
ably fearing lest she and her companion might be 
kept mourning rather longer than was agreeable on 
a cold day. When this was done, she proceeded 
with her wailing, as loudly and bitterly as before. 
A little boy was also there, perhaps the son of the 
deceased, who, with his hands placed together, fre- 
quently bowed toward the burning pile. The wo- 
men had bands of white — the mourning color of the 
Chinese — across their foreheads, and tied behind the 
head, the long ends hanging down the back. For a 
near relative, recently dead, they wear the whole out- 
er dress of white, even to the shoes and the silk cord 
intertwined with the hair. 

The moral condition of this vast country corres- 
ponds, in one particular, to its physical aspect. China 
is not only an immense valley of dry bones, in a spi- 
ritual sense, but it is actually one wide graveyard. 
The extensive plain around Shanghai, as far as the 



120 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

eye can reach, in every direction, contains multitudes 
of mounds covering the dead. These constitute by 
far the most prominent"" feature in a scene, which, but 
for this, would be one of the most beautiful on which 
the eye ever feasted. For fertility it is unsurpassed 
in the world. Then, it is in a state of the most per- 
fect cultivation — its fields neatly laid out, teeming 
with their crops of rice, cotton, wheat, and vegeta- 
bles. Presenting many a copse of trees, and of 
luxuriantly-waving bamboos and evergreens, it is 
dotted with hamlets and cottages, and intersected ev- 
erywhere by beautifully winding canals, rivers, and 
streams, throughout the whole landscape. But what 
sadly mars the prospect is the occurrence of a grave 
or a comparatively naked coffin, every few steps, for 
miles around. In this part of China, they do not 
very often apparently dig a grave, but simply place the 
coffin upon the ground, and either inclose it with 
brick masonry, having a diminutive roof, like a house, 
or cover it with earth, or bind straw over it, or else 
leave it standing entirely exposed. The coffins are 
made of pine wood, from four to six inches in 
thickness, and are rendered remarkably tight by 
means of a kind of cement, so that any offensive 
smell is seldom perceived from the decaying body. 
Indeed, in numberless instances, the coffin, with its 
tenant, is kept for years in the same house, and often 
in the same room with the family, as is the case with 
our next door neighbor on the left; or if the dwelling 
be too small to accommodate both the living and the 
dead, the coffin is frequently placed just outside the 
door, as our nearest neighbor on the right has done 
with the one containing the body of his wife, who died 



CHINESE NEW YEAR. 121 

ten years ago. This latter is within three feet of the 
back door of our residence ; and separated from us 
by a ditch or canal, ten or twelve feet wide, are the 
graves of hundreds, and I think I may safely say, of 
thousands, besides many coffins with no covering at 
all. Almost daily in our walks, we see coffins fallen 
into ruin from age, and the skeletons quite exposed. 
"We frequently observed some of these receptacles of 
the dead, in the midst of a garden or tilled field, ele- 
vated two or three feet above the surface of the earth, 
upon four sticks, and whatever was planted in the 
spot, also growing under the coffin. On inquiring 
the reason of this, I was told the surviving friends 
were too poor to purchase a spot on which to place 
it, and were obliged to put it in that position, that it* 1 
might take up no room on the ground. From this 
extreme parsimony of land devoted to the dead on 
the one hand, as in the case of the poorest, you will 
often find nearly an acre appropriated to the tomb of 
some distinguished mandarin, on the other, when it 
will be inclosed with a hedge or wall, and planted 
with evergreens. 

A few afternoons since, we made a visit to a spot 
occupied by that loathsome, wretched class of peo- 
ple, the beggars, as their stopping place — it cannot 
be called residence. The settlement consists of about 
twenty lairs or dens, for they could not even be called 
huts, but merely a few pieces of worn-out mats, 
reaching from the ground on the sides, over a bam- 
boo pole, raised about four feet from the earth, and 
thus forming a miserable covering, in shape some- 
what like the roof of a house. The ends toward the 
north were closed, but those toward the south were left 
6 



122 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

open as the entrance. They were directly among the 
tombs, for they could not well be elsewhere, and be 
out of doors near Shanghai — the hollow space 
between two graves, with the addition of a little 
straw, furnishing the bed for the inmates. The only 
articles of furniture were a dish, in which to cook 
their rice, a bowl or two to eat it from, and a tea ket- 
tle. A rudely constructed furnace, just at the en- 
trance, very poorly contrived for imparting heat, was 
probably intended to be used only for cooking. There 
was not the most distant approach to anything in the 
shape of a chair, table, bedstead, or box, and with 
all these articles the dwellings of the very poorest of 
the working classes are supplied. Each den was 
about twelve feet long, by four wide, and four high 
in the middle, sloping off to the ground on each side. 
The fragments of mats which formed the only cover- 
ing, were precisely of the same kind as those used 
upon our floors in America. The inmates them- 
selves it is difficult to describe, meagrely clad in 
rags, and filthy in the extreme — of both sexes, and 
in every stage of life, from helpless infancy to hoary 
age. It was a little remarkable that they did not 
importune us for money, as they do when we meet 
them in the streets. On the contrary, they seemed 
desirous to show us some civility, by offering us 
pipes and tobacco, and begged us to smoke. Many 
arts are practised to excite the pity of passers-by in 
the streets, and at places of public resort. One 
woman, not knowing that I discovered it, was pinch- 
ing her infant child, and thus forcing it to scream as 
we passed along, thinking thereby to obtain alms from 
us. Another was sitting by her child as he lay 



i 



CHINESE NEW YEAit. 123 

stretched out on the side of the street, apparently very 
ill with the small pox. I did not stop to examine it 
at that time, but supposed it was really the case, until 
I was informed by another missionary that he had seen 
the same child in apparently the same stage of the 
disease for the last two years. She puts drops of 
flour paste on its face to resemble the pustules of 
small pox. In Canton it is a very common practice to 
put out the eyes of the children, in order to insure 
greater success in begging. I recollect, while in that 
city, meeting a man, woman, and several children, 
apparently all of one family, and all blind. 

There now lives in the next house to the one we 
occupy, a little boy who has been blind from his 
infancy, in consequence of a severe attack of small- 
pox. His mother is dead, and her body is the one 
contained in the coffin above described as being but 
one step from our door. He is a very sprightly, 
active, and affectionate little fellow, but has a gloomy 
prospect before him for life, as his friends are all very 
poor. It makes one feel sad to meet a blind person 
in a Christian land, whose mind and heart may yet 
discern the truths, and feel the power of the blessed 
Gospel, and who can, with an eye of faith, look for- 
ward with sweet anticipation to a bright world, where 
the glorified body shall enjoy perfect vision. But it 
is sadder still to see one twice blind — the inner man 
sealed up in moral, as the outer is in physical, dark- 
ness. 

We have in our family, a little Chinese girl, ten 
years of age, who has been for a year and a half in 
the family of another missionary, but as their situa- 
tion rendered it impracticable for them to keep her 



124 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

any longer, we have taken her at their request, rather 
than allow her to go back to heathenism, after having 
been instructed in many truths of the Christian reli- 
gion. She can read quite well in the Bible, has com- 
mitted to memory several hymns, the ten command- 
ments, the Apostles' creed, and repeats the Lord's 
Prayer every morning with us at family worship — all 
in the English language. She prepares a spelling les- 
son, one also in reading, writes a composition, and 
commits to memory a verse of Scripture every day. 
All these exercises are performed under the superin- 
tendence of Mrs. Taylor, who is also teaching her to 
sew and knit. She then, in turn, is imparting instruc- 
tion to the nurse of our little boy, who is quite a sen- 
sible Chinese woman, and already manifests a strong 
desire to be taught the " Yah-soo tawle" — the 
" doctrines of Jesus." She now sits near me, eagerly 
studying the ten commandments in Chinese, as they 
have been read and explained to her by Annie — for 
this is the name of the little girl. 

Feb. M. — I have just completed to-day, with the as- 
sistance of my teacher in giving me the idiom, a his- 
tory of the creation and the fall of man in the local 
dialect. It was entirely new to him and seemed to 
fill him with interest and surprise at every step. He 
has a family of grown-up children, and he said, as he 
was leaving me this evening, he would go home and 
tell them this strange narrative. I think he is fully 
persuaded of the folly of idolatry and the truth of 
the Christian religion, and my prayer to God is that 
his heart may be brought to experience the saving 
power of the Gospel. This is the point so difficult to 
attain, here as well as in Christian lands. We can 



CHINESE NEW YEAR. 125 

with comparative ease induce many to acknowledge 
the absurdity of their own superstitions and admit 
the truth of the Christian system, but it is quite ano- 
ther thing so to impress the doctrines of the Bible 
upon their consciences, that with the heart they will 
believe unto righteousness. Here lies the great trial 
of the missionary whose soul is in his work — it is not 
that he has left his home, his native land, his beloved 
kindred and friends, to see them perhaps no more on 
earth — no, this is light when compared with the 
grief that weighs down his spirit to see so little gen- 
uine, hearty, eager, joyful appreciation of "the truth 
as it is in Jesus " — so little real fruit of his labor 
after years of toil. But so it must be, " one soweth 
and another reapeth," now is the seed-time and the 
harvest will come by and by — yes, blessed be His 
holy name, the harvest will come — the promise of our 
God stands engaged that " they who sow in tears 
shall reap in joy," and, "he that goeth forth and 
weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall, doubtless, come 
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." 
What matters, it, then, whether or not I live to see 
the result of my toil ? the millions of China are to be 
converted to God — there is not a shadow of doubt on 
that point, and if faithful to the trust committed to 
me, 1 shall share in the final triumph. 



CHAPTER X. 

WHAT AND HOW THEY EAT MARRIAGE. 

Vegetable Productions — Animal Food — Cattle — Poultry — " Shanghai 
Fowls " — Artificial Egg-hatching — Raising Ducks— Fishing — Eating 
Rats, Puppies, etc, — "Bird-nest Soup" — Shark Fins— Fruits — Pecu- 
liarities of Oranges and Persimmons — Other Fruits — "Japan 
Plum " — Nuts — Sugar — Modeso f Cooking — Use of Oils — " Hen-Egg 
Cakes " — Abhorrence of Butter and Cheese — Native Names for 
these Articles— Milk — Mode of Eating — " Chopsticks " — Ideas 
of Politeness — A Chinese Feast — Great Number of Courses — An 
Intoxicating Drink — Manufacture of Salt, a Government Monopoly 
— Smuggling — Mode of Contracting Marriages — A " Go-between " 
— Betrothal — Marriage Ceremonies — Amusements. 

As China stretches over many degrees of lati- 
tude and extends into the temperate and torrid 
zones, its productions are as numerous and varied as 
those of any country on the globe. Among its arti- 
cles of vegetable diet, rice, as already stated, stands 
preeminent. "Wheat, buckwheat, rye, barley, oats 
and corn, beans and peas of many varieties, sweet- 
potatoes and yams, pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, 
egg-plants ; watermelons and muskmelons ; leeks, 
onions, and garlic, of which they are extravagantly 
fond ; cabbage, cauliflowers, tomatoes, turnips, car- 
rots and parsnips. The young sprout of the bamboo 
is an excellent vegetable, and its taste much resem- 
bles that of green corn. There are also radishes, 



WHAT AND HOW THEY EAT. 127 

lettuce, spinach, parsley, celery, and others. I have 
never found beets, "Irish" potatoes, nor okra, indi- 
genous in China, but they have been introduced by 
foreigners for their own use, and will thus become 
known to the natives. ' 

Of animal food, pork is the most common of any 
used by the Chinese, and they cure hams and bacon 
well. They also have very fine sheep and goats, 
and consequently, good mutton. Beef is seldom 
eaten, partly, and perhaps mainly, on account of a 
superstitious veneration for the ox, as so useful and 
indispensable in their agriculture. They do not, how- 
ever, scruple to kill it and sell the beef to foreigners. 
Money is a wonderful remover of prejudice. Geese, 
ducks, and fowls, both of the tame and wild varieties, 
are abundant. The large fowl, known among us as 
the " Shanghai fowl," is peculiar to that part of the 
country. It is also my opinion, that those varieties 
called Cochin-China, Brahmapootra, and others, are 
all of this same brepd. With reference to one of 
them, a gentleman who had lived in Cochin-China 
for many years, told me that so far from being very 
large, the fowls in that country were actually smaller 
than our own in America. Eggs there are, of course, 
but instead of allowing them to be hatched naturally, 
they have large establishments for hatching them 
by artificial heat. There was one of these concerns 
directly opposite my house, across the Yang-King- 
pang. It often had sixty thousand eggs at a time 
undergoing this process. They were placed in large 
trays made of straw over capacious mud furnaces 
around the sides of the apartment, in w r hich the heat 
was graduated with great skill by the manipulators, 



128 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

solely by their sense of feeling, as they have no ther- 
mometers. Thus warmed, the eggs were trans- 
ferred to shelves, eight or ten feet broad, arranged in 
tiers, one above another, on strong frames, filling the 
middle portion of the large, dark room. Each shelf 
has a raised edge to prevent the eggs from rolling off, 
and is covered with a thick layer of cotton batting, on 
which the eggs are placed. They are then covered 
by another layer of the cotton to retain the heat, and 
are taken out and warmed whenever necessary. 
These beds, for such they are, are frequently inspected, 
and the peeping of little chicks or ducks is con- 
stantly heard as they are finding their way through 
the shells, into the great world without. When 
fairly emerged, they are taken by the operators in 
the establishment and kept warm, nursed and fed 
till they are large enough to be sold. These egg- 
hatchers perform the offices of the mother-hen so 
well, that you almost expect to hear them cluck. 
Thousands of eggs are bought and thousands of 
chickens and ducks are sold every day. The ducks 
are afterward raised in flocks, often of two hundred, 
by men who give their whole time and attention to 
this employment, as a shepherd does to the care of his 
sheep. These duckherds, with a long pole, gently 
drive their flocks from pond to pond, and watch them 
through the day — calling them up to be fed, and 
shutting them up at night. 

Fish in great variety abound in the waters of 
China, among them are the carp, eel, sole, mullet, 
and flounder. Shad come up the rivers in the 
spring, and are as highly esteemed by the " Celes- 
tials " as by ourselves. Fishing by seines and nets 



WHAT AND HOW THEY EAT. 129 

is the most common mode, but there are some other 
curious methods to be hereafter described. Among 
the shell-fish are lobsters, crabs and turtles ; and on 
some parts of the coast, clams and oysters are found. 
Snails are boiled, and I have often seen the natives 
take them thus cooked, and suck the contents from the 
shell. The common large earth-worms are by some, 
collected, dried, salted and eaten as a relish. Not only 
have I seen frogs used as an article of diet, but have 
eaten the hind-legs myself, and found them as white, 
delicate, and pleasantly flavored as the tenderest 
fowl. Cats, rats and dogs are certainly to be enume- 
rated in a complete list of Chinese eatables ; but so 
far from being regarded as delicacies, they are only 
eaten by those who cannot afford anything better. 
Bird's-nest soup is, on the contrary, an expensive 
luxury. A certain species of swallow frequenting the 
islands southeast from China, cements with its bill 
the leaves, twigs, straws and feathers of which the 
nest is mainly composed — with a gelatinous sub- 
stance which it collects from marine plants. These 
nests are gathered by the natives, from the rocks to 
which they are attached, and passed through 
repeated washings and scrapings, until nothing 
remains but a small, thin sheet of pure, clean gela- 
tin. These sheets are dried and packed in bundles 
to be sent to their destined markets. The soup made 
of the bird's-nest thus prepared, is rich and nutritious. 
Sharks' fins are likewise highly prized, and form a 
soup of similar properties. 

The fruits are : Peaches of several varieties, of which 
some are nearly if not quite as fine as those in the 
United States. Plums of different kinds, most of 



130 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

which, by a singular perversion of taste, are eaten 
perfectly green. Pears abound, of very large size 
and juicy ; but they are hard, even when fully ripe, 
coarse-grained and lacking in flavor. There are line 
quinces, but the few apples are very indifferent. 
Some are very small and acid ; others are quite large, 
beautiful and fragrant, but dry, spongy and tasteless. 
They are valued by the natives for smell and orna- 
ment. A few cherries are seen. There are tine 
grapes and pomegranates. Oranges are in abun- 
dance and of all sizes when ripe, from that of a wal- 
nut, to that common among us. The rind is so ten- 
der that it can easily be torn off without the use of a 
knife, and the divisions of the pulp almost fall apart 
in your hands. They are not perfectly round, but 
flattened at the ends, and the flavor, though deci- 
dedly pleasant, is not quite so delicious as that of 
the West India orange. There is, however, a vari- 
ety, known among foreigners as the "Hong-Kong 
orange," that nearly resembles in every respect that 
familiar to us. The persimmon grows to an enormous 
size — eight inches in circumference is common for it, 
and I have measured one that was ten. It is of a deep 
golden color, and has a rich, sweet taste, like that in 
our Southern States ; but it ripens before frost, and 
is not shrivelled. You can tear open the thin, smooth 
rind and eat it with a spoon, as you w r ould a custard. 
The fig, guava and olive, and a fruit w r hich foreign 
ers call " dates" — though not the real date — are also 
found, and in the south of China, the banana, plan- 
tain, pine-apple, shaddock, lemon and citron. We 
saw but very few berries of any kind except the 
gooseberry. There is a w T ild strawberry growing 



WHAT AND HOW THEY EAT. 131 

abundantly about Shanghai, but it is insipid and 
worthless. English strawberries have been intro- 
duced there by foreigners, and thrive well. There 
are several other varieties of fruits that are not 
known among us, and consequently have no English 
names ; except as some of them will admit of trans- 
lation, such as, for instance, the " yellow-skin " and 
the ' : dragon-eye." One has been lately introduced 
into this country by the name of the " Japan plum." 
It certainly is not peculiar to Japan, for it abounds 
at Shanghai, and its name is Pe-lo. 

The most common nuts are cocoa-nuts, walnuts, 
chestnuts, almonds, filberts, and ground-nuts, or, as 
they are variously called in different parts of this 
country — pea-nuts, ground-peas, goobers or pindars. 

Sugar is made from the cane, which is now well 
known in the United States, as the " Chinese sugar- 
cane," and is extensively used in making confections, 
sweet-meats, and preserves, of which the ginger put 
up at Canton in small blue jars, is most familiar to 
us. Their modes of cooking are boiling, baking, broil- 
ing, frying and stewing. Much fat is required in 
some of these processes ; but as lard is expensive, 
vegetable oils, expressed from certain varieties of 
beans, and from cotton-seed, are generally used in 
cooking, as well as for burning. Even castor-oil may 
be included among them. Their flour, which is very 
fine — they make into a great variety of cakes and 
dumplings, some of which, in appearance, are not 
unlike many of ours ; but they differ widely in taste. 
We were not a little, and yet agreeably, surprised to 
find in their provision shops — sponge-cake, nicely 
made, precisely as it is among ourselves, and quite 



132 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

palatable. The Chinese name for it, signifies " hen- 
egg cake." Vermicelli is abundant, cheap and nutri- 
tious. It may seem strange that they make no bread, 
nor is there any word in their language that corres- 
ponds to that term. Butter and cheese, also, are un- 
known among the Chinese, except as we have des- 
cribed to them the process of making these articles ; 
and they have applied to one, the term, " cow-milk 
grease," and to the other, " cow-milk cake ;" but they 
have a great abhorrence at eating them. Milk is but 
little if at all used, except for infants and persons of 
extreme age. "Woman's milk is often sold for this 
purpose. Being very fond of highly-seasoned food, 
they use many condiments, sauces and catsups. One 
of these has a taste very similar to that of the cele- 
brated " Worcestershire sauce." 

They sit around a table at their meals, though 
workmen out of doors may often be seen stooping 
to the ground around their large bowl of rice, which 
is always the principal dish at every meal. In the 
house, it occupies the middle of the table and a small 
bowl is placed at each seat, with two straight sticks, 
ten inches long, lying by the side of it. These are 
"chopsticks" and supply the place of a knife and 
fork, but both are held in one hand. They are made 
of wood, bamboo, ivory or silver, according to cir- 
cumstances. Each person fills his bowl with* rice 
from the large one by a ladle, and then holding it to 
his mouth, stuffs and almost shovels in the rice with 
his chopsticks, till you wonder what becomes of it — 
so quickly has it disappeared. He then takes with his 
two sticks — handling them most dexterously — a bit 
of meat, fish or vegetable, as the case may be, that 



WHAT AND HOW THEY EAT. 133 

which required cutting having been divided into 
mouthfuls by the knife in the kitchen, before it was 
brought to the table. There is usually some kind of 
gravy, which each one can put on his rice with a 
small china ladle. This ladle serves as a spoon 
when soups or stews form a part of the meal. If 
one of your companions at the table, wishes to pay 
you a particular compliment, he dips the ladle, which 
has been in his own mouth, into the stew or gravy 
and helps you to it, pouring it over the rice in your 
bowl. Or again, he will take up with his chopsticks 
a delicate morsel and deposit it on your rice. If he 
thinks your chopsticks are not sufficiently clean or 
nice he wipes his own by drawing them through his 
hands, after having sucked them clean, and then 
passes them over to you. At a feast, or a special din- 
ner-party, there is a variety of dishes, and a number 
of courses, in proportion to the ability and position 
of the host. Forty or fifty courses are not uncom- 
mon among the wealthy, and the repast always 
begins with what we should consider the dessert and 
ends with plain boiled rice. In lieu of table nap- 
kins, there is a pile of pieces of red paper, about five 
inches square, and as each course is changed, you 
must take one, and having wiped your fingers with it, 
throw it upon the floor. The variety of preparations 
is certainly very great, and many of them are as 
delicate and well-flavored as any one could desire. 
Such at least is my own opinion, founded on actual 
experience ; for, just in order to inform myself, I 
have done what, perhaps, few foreigners who visit 
China venture upon — imagining the presence of some 
canine or feline ingredient — have tasted most of the 



134 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

dishes at a fashionable Chinese dinner, even when 
the appearance and odor suggested something dis- 
agreeable, and have often found them exceedingly 
palatable. 

"Women are never seen at the table with men, in 
families where the national etiquette is at all observed ; 
but you may often see it disregarded in the dwellings 
of the humbler classes. 

An intoxicating beverage is distilled from rice, re- 
sembling the best whisky. It is taken in very small 
quantities, always warm and sweetened. But although 
there are numerous shops where it is sold — " liquor 
shops " — yet a drunken Chinaman is comparatively a 
rare sight. 

The manufacture of salt is a government monopoly, 
and the tariff on it is very high ; but there are large 
quantities made and smuggled into market. It is 
often amusing to see a poor woman, with perhaps 
some article of her dress made to serve as a small, 
temporary sack, hobbling along with it on her shoul- 
der, filled with the contraband article ; and some- 
times skulking and dodging about, looking suspi- 
ciously at every one she meets. 

Marriages are contracted by parents for their 
children during infancy ; nor, according to the usage 
of the country, can the parents of the one child nego- 
tiate directly with those of the other. An indis- 
pensable actor in the transaction, is a " middle per- 
son"— commonly called in English a " go-between." 
This individual may be either a man or a woman, and 
is generally an intimate friend of one family or the 
other. Supposing it a woman — she ascertains upon 
inquiry among families of the same social position, if 



MARKIAGE. 135 

a matrimonial alliance between them would be agree- 
able, giving to each all the information desired re- 
specting the other. If there be no objection, she 
inquires of them the precise date of the birth of the 
two children — the boy generally being, at least, a 
year or two the elder — and consults a fortune-teller 
or an astrologer, who, by comparing their horoscopes, 
pronounces whether a marriage between them will be 
fortunate or otherwise. If the response is favorable, 
it is so announced to the parents of both, and presents 
of greater or less value, according to their station in 
life, are exchanged between the families as a ratifica- 
tion of the betrothal. If the girl dies before mar- 
riage, another is sought for the youth in the same 
manner as at first. But if he dies, it is far more 
reputable for his betrothed to live single— she some- 
times becomes a nun. Presents are sent annually, 
and communication is kept up by messages, or writ- 
ing, or both, during the years that elapse till the 
marriage ; but the affianced pair do not see each 
other until the hour of their nuptials. When both 
become of suitable age — say from fifteen to twenty — 
one of the " lucky days " is selected for this event, 
which is always consummated at the house of the 
bridegroom, whose parents provide a sumptuous feast 
on the occasion. The bride is arrayed in her costliest 
attire — has a gaudy head-dress projecting several 
inches over her face, glittering with strings of pen- 
dent beads, while from its square front hangs the veil 
which hides her face. A " flowery sedan," with four 
bearers, is hired to convey her to the residence of her 
future husband. This vehicle is of much larger 
dimensions than those used for ordinary purposes — is 



136 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

covered with flaming red cloth, gaily embroidered, 
and has long, heavy, silken tassels hanging from the 
four corners of its projecting top. On leaving her 
home, and taking her seat in the bridal sedan, she 
breaks out into the most violent lamentations, which 
must be continued, according to " custom," through- 
out the whole progress of the procession, till she 
reaches the entrance of her future abode ; for the 
newly-married pair always live for some time with 
the parents of the husband, to whom the wife becomes 
a servant. Especially does his mother often exercise 
over her a most tyrannical and exacting authority. 
So much so, that the cruelty of a mother-in-law has 
passed into a proverb. The bride is aware of this, 
and hence her wailing on leaving the home of her 
childhood for a new one, where she may be treated 
with a rigorous harshness. The sedan is preceded by 
men and boys carrying gay flags and lighted lanterns, 
even in the daytime ; and then comes a band of 
musicians, consisting of twelve boys in uniform, walk- 
ing in pairs, and wearing long drab gowns, black or 
claret-colored velvet jackets, and red-tasselled caps. 
Prominent among their instruments is the gong, of 
course ; then cymbals, horns, trumpets, and several 
others, which for want of any other name in English, 
I shall call clarionets, fifes, flageolets, and flutes, be- 
cause they bear some resemblance to those instru- 
ments. .Next comes a long train of well-grown boys, 
also walking two and two in holiday costume, which 
differs from that worn by the musicians, only in that 
the gowns are of light-blue, figured silk, and the jackets 
of dark-blue broadcloth. When the procession 
arrives at the place of its destination, packs of fire- 



MARRIAGE. 137 

crackers are let off, and strings of gilt paper burned 
near the entrance at which the sedan is set down. 
The " go-between " opens its door, leads out the veiled 
bride, and conducts her into the reception-room, or 
" ancestral hall," where the guests are already 
assembled. At its further end, stands a table, on 
which are burning red wax candles and sticks of in- 
cense, in honor of the ancestors, whose pictorial re- 
presentations hang over it against the wall. Here 
the goom (see Webster) is waiting, and receives his 
bride with a simple bow ; then both kneel reverently, 
and bow three times to the pictures of their ancestors. 
The " go-between " then takes two pieces of narrow, 
thin silk — each about a yard in length — .the one green 
and the other red, and tying an end of each together, 
puts the other end of the green silk into his right 
hand, and the red into hers. They then kneel face to 
face, and bow to each other three times ; then, rising 
to their feet, turn and worship their ancestors again 
in the same manner. Repeating these alternate 
genuflections several times, the ceremony is com- 
pleted, and the groom leads his bride into an adjoin- 
ing apartment, where he takes off the veil, and 
beholds her face for the first time in his life. He then 
comes out, expressing in his looks satisfaction or dis- 
appointment, and receives the congratulations or con- 
dolence of his friends ; while the females present 
enter the room he has left, and salute the bride 
simply in words — the Chinese never kiss. The tables 
laden with luxuries next receive due attention — the 
males eating in one apartment, and the females in 
another. So the remainder of the day, with several 
more in succession, are passed in festivities, consisting 



138 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

of dinner parties, given by relatives and friends, 
amusements, and general hilarity. The dower of the 
bride consists in part, and often entirely, in the fur- 
niture for her apartment — all of red — and her ward- 
robe, in red trunks and boxes, borne along by coolies 
in the wedding-procession. As yellow is the imperial, 
so red is the festive color, among the Chinese. 

A favorite pastime with the Chinese gentry consists 
in leisurely lounging or walking about, carrying rare 
birds in fanciful cages. Some of the most common 
out-of-door amusements are kite-flying, hopscotch, 
and shuttlecock. In the latter, much dexterity is ex- 
hibited by the players in keeping the feathered cork 
flying between them, by striking it with the bottom 
of the foot. No battle-door is ever used. Kites are 
made to resemble men, birds, dragons, and even, 
jointed, wriggling centipedes. I have seen them like 
the latter, thirty feet long. 



CHAPTER XL 

NOTIONS OF MEDICINE AND DISEASE PUNISHMENTS PAU- 

SHAN. 

Medical Practice — Native Ideas of Medicines and Anatomy — Diseases 
— Smallpox— Singular mode of Inoculation — Letters — Chinese 
Names and Titles — Modes of Punishment — Beating — The " Cangue " 
— Great Severity and Barbarity — City Prison — " Squeezing " — The 
Wooden Cage — Modes of Capital Punishment — Beheading — Stran- 
gulation — Modes of Suicide — Its Object — Flaying Alive — Cutting to 
Pieces — A Trip to Pau-shan — Description of the City — High em- 
bankment — Battery — Cannon — Scene of a Battle— Chinese Bravery 
— Deification of a General after his Death. 

I have found, says my journal, my medical practice 
of great service to me in gaining the confidence and 
good will of the people, though they are not at all 
hostile to foreigners. The other day I performed a 
successful operation on a poor man's eye, which re- 
lieved him so much that he is expressing his thank- 
fulness to me every day, as he is a very near neigh- 
bor. He was formerly a wealthy man, but by some 
reverse of fortune, has been reduced to deep poverty • 
and as he was rapidly becoming blind, he presented 
altogether a most pitiable appearance ; but since he 
has the prospect of prolonged eyesight, and that, too, 
much improved, he is greatly encouraged, and looks 
like quite another man. 

In several instances where relief has been afforded, 






140 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

the patients have manifested the most extravagant 
gratitude. They are greatly surprised that I will fur- 
nish them remedies so far superior to the absurd com- 
biuations of their own apothecaries, and yet receive 
nothing by way of remuneration in return. One poor 
fellow showed me a dried centipede, about three 
inches in length, which he was about to pulverize 
and take in a draught of tea, as a remedy for rheu- 
matism in his knee ! He said he had taken one al- 
ready. This was in accordance with one of the prin- 
ciples of Chinese medical philosophy, which is, that 
small portions of certain animals, taken internally, 
will impart the qualities that distinguish these ani- 
mals, to the persons who take the remedies. There- 
fore, because the centipede is remarkably flexible, it 
would render flexible a limb stiff with rheumatism ! 

The compounders of native medicines take a live 
deer and beat it in a large stone mortar — hide, hair, 
horns, hoofs, bones, flesh, and entrails — to an undis- 
tinguishable mass, which they make up in large pills, 
to be sold to persons who have become infirm or de- 
crepit, either from age or disease, with the idea that 
they will impart agility and renewed vigor to those 
thus enfeebled, because, forsooth, the deer is an active 
animal ! 

In accordance with this sage theory, pills made of 
the bones of tigers are given to soldiers before going 
into battle, to render them fierce and brave. 

The native physicians always feel the pulse in both 
wrists before they prescribe. They assert that there 
is a difference in the pulsations, and they distinguish 
nearly a hundred varieties in the character of the pulse. 

As they never practise dissection — having a great 



NOTIONS OF MEDICINE AND DISEASE. 141 

horror at cutting a dead subject, and indeed a living 
one also ; for the use of the knife in surgery is unknown 
among them — their ideas of anatomy are exceedingly 
crude and absurd. For instance, in some drawings 
pretending to show the internal structure of the hu- 
man body, you will see exhibited five parallel tubes 
leading from the throat to the stomach. 

Notwithstanding these ridiculous crudities, experi- 
ence has taught them the properties of many really 
valuable remedial agents, mostly vegetable, of which 
they have an immense variety — herbs, barks, roots, 
leaves, gums, and berries. They also have some 
mineral medicines, among which are several prepa- 
rations of iron, copper, gold, silver, and mercury. 
They call the last " water silver." 

The diseases prevalent at Shanghai are similar to 
those in corresponding latitudes and localities in 
America ; but the native treatment, being entirely 
empirical, is far from being as successful. 

When there is temporary aberration of mind, as 
often occurs during sickness, they say the soul has 
left the body ; and we have sometimes heard the rela- 
tives of the sufferer, howling about the vicinity of 
the dwelling through the whole night, calling the 
strayed soul to return home to its abode. 

Diseases of the eye are far more common than 
among us, and great numbers of persons, of all ranks 
and ages, thus afflicted, presented themselves to me for 
treatment. Many were relieved by local applications, 
and many others by operations. Cutaneous diseases 
are also very prevalent, especially among the lower 
classes of the people, arising mainly from their want of 
attention to personal cleanliness. Here, also, for the 



14:2 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

first time, I saw leprosy. It is contagious, and regarded 
as incurable. Smallpox is common, but they have 
learned to guard against its ravages by inoculation in 
infancy. The mode is singular. Selecting that age 
of the child, the condition of the system, and the sea- 
son of the year which experience has taught them to 
be most favorable, they take a bit of cotton, and go- 
ing to one who has the disease fully developed, open 
a pustule, saturate the cotton in the virus, and insert 
it into both nostrils of the child. This, of course, 
communicates the disease. Their treatment is chiefly 
dieting, exclusion from light, and keeping the body 
and limbs confined in a bag, which is tied around 
the neck. The issue is generally favorable, but it 
sometimes results in death. Yaccination has been 
introduced by foreign physicians, and greatly delights 
the natives, as being far less troublesome and hazard- 
ous, while it is nearly, if not quite as efficacious. I saw 
a case of elephantiasis ■, in which the man's leg at the 
knee was twenty-seven inches in circumference. It 
was hard and rough like that of an elephant — hence 
the name. 

Chinese names, and indeed all other words in their 
language, are monosyllabic. To accommodate them- 
selves to this peculiarity, most of the missionaries use 
but one syllable of their proper surnames, as it is 
more convenient both in speaking and writing, and 
is less strange to the people. Accordingly my 
Chinese name is Tay, to which they add the words 
seen-sang, by way of respect, as among themselves. 
In their usual acceptation, these words signify 
" teacher," " Mr.," " Sir," or " Esq.," but rendered 
literally, earlier bom, or elder. 



-_ -* 



NOTIONS OF MEDICINE AND DISEASE. 143 

Here are three letters written to me by one of my 
patients : 

" Respectfully imploring of Tay seen-sang' s genii- 
like pills, one dose. Yoh- Yen's body is sick. His 
face is red and puffed out. There is all the time 
much expectoration and cough, with difficulty of 
breathing. The entrance into his stomach is not 
open (i. e., cannot eat). His four limbs are also 
puffed out. The bones in his side, when he coughs, 
are painful. He cannot lie down long at a time, and 
is very much confused. He prays you to bestow 
your spiritual (i. e., your efficacious) medicine, for 
which, when swallowed, and he is perfectly recovered, 
it will be his duty to worship and thank you. 

" The later born, Yoh, entreats." 

Later born, i. e., younger, is tantamount to " Your 
obedient servant." 

" Stooping and praying Tay seen-sang that he will 
yet again bestow of his genii-like medicines, one dose. 
For in my sickness my breath is very short, and my 
four limbs are much swollen. My stomach's entrance 
is not open. I pray and implore some of your spirit- 
ual medicine, and then I shall be perfectly well. 
Your teacher can make all this as clear as lightning. 

" 1st moon, 23d day. 

" The later born, Yoh, entreats." 

" Stooping and entreating for Tay seen-sang 's genii- 
like pills. Yoh- Yen's sickness dosed with your pills, 
his disease will be perfectly cured, as if by divinely 
devised, mysterious medicine. To-day at 10 o'clock, 
wishing to return home, I most respectfully beg you 



144 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

again to bestow of your spiritual pills, several doses, 
so that I may be entirely well : and on the day that 
I come to Shanghai again, at your door will I wor- 
ship and thank you not merely once. 
" 1st moon, 27th day. 

u The later born, Yoh, entreats." 

This poor fellow was a cabinet maker, from the 
neighboring port of Ningpo, and was in a truly piti- 
able condition when I first saw him. He went home, 
however, nearly well, taking 6ome Christian books 
and tracts which I had given him. The gratuitous 
medical relief he had experienced, was also as I 
learned, a powerful argument to his mind in favor of 
the religious truths that had been pressed upon -his 
attention ; and this we found to be universally the 
case. 

I was once requested to visit a man in the city pri- 
son, who, for some comparatively trilling offence, had 
been most cruelly beaten with a flat bamboo, five 
feet long and three inches wide, upon the fleshy por- 
tions of one thigh and leg, until the life of the parts 
was entirely destroyed, and the whole mass bruised to 
a jelly. When I first saw him, the leg was swollen 
to twice its natural size, mortification had commenced, 
and it was too late to save his life : he died within 
thirty hours after. Culprits are frequently beaten on 
the cheek with a similar instrument of smaller size. 
In the same apartment with the unfortunate map. 
above alluded to, were four others, confined together 
by a heavy chain attached to iron collars on their 
necks. Some had already suffered in the manner 
above described, though not so severely as to prevent 



_ . 



PUNISHMENTS. 145 

them standing and indulging in as much motion as 
five feet of chain would allow to each man. There 
was a poor old man sitting near them in the " cangue" 
which was four feet square, made of plank two inches 
in thickness, and had a hole in the middle large 
enough for the neck. It was so heavy that the wear- 
er was compelled to hold his head and body inclined 
forward, to allow one corner of the cangue to rest on 
the bench on which he was sitting. He told me he 
was suffering this punishment because he could not 
pay his taxes. This may have been true or not. You 
may frequently see criminals wearing this instrument 
of torture, seated on the side of some crowded street, 
or in some place of public resort, having their names, 
residence and the nature of the crimes for which they 
are thus punished, written in large characters on paper, 
which is pasted on the sides of the cangue. While 
in this situation it is impossible for them to raise the 
hand to the head, and they can only eat as they are 
fed by another. The punishments in China often are 
most unjustly disproportionate to the offence, and are 
so cruel that the people are kept in subjection by the 
terror which these dreadful inflictions strike into their 
hearts. There is no doubt in my own mind, but this 
is one of the many reasons why so many millions of 
people are ruled with comparatively so small a force. 
If a crime is committed, the persons accused or most, 
suspected, are arrested, and it matters very little to 
the authorities whether they are guilty or innocent, 
the punishment is inflicted unless the party be rich 
enough either to bribe the judges and escape, or to 
hire a substitute to undergo the suffering in his stead. 
The laws admit of this, and a case occurred in Canton 



146 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

not long since, where a man actually consented, for 
the sum of five hundred dollars, to take the place of 
another condemned to die, and accordingly was exe- 
cuted. When asked why he did this, he replied that his 
family was poor, and as that sum invested would pro- 
vide for them during their lives, he was willing to 
sacrifice his own to procure it for them. 

The city prison has the appearance of a series of 
large cages — one side consisting of strong wooden 
bars, reaching from the eaves to the ground. They 
are often crammed with unfortunates, mostly incar- 
cerated for petty offences. So neglected are they 
by the jailers, who often pocket the money given 
them by the magistrates to buy food for the prisoners, 
that they sometimes nearly starve, and perhaps would 
quite perish, did not their relatives or friends come 
and feed them. 

Thus huddled together, they also become covered 
with vermin, and contract loathsome diseases. Nor 
is it an uncommon thing for the poor creatures to die 
there. I once procured the release of a man who had 
been working forme — but had been unjustly accused, 
arrested and imprisoned in this pest-house — by 
threatening the magistrate with the interposition and 
displeasure of the American Consul. 

These villainous officers will frequently seize and 
drag to prison, for no cause whatever, persons whom 
they suspect of having money, simply to extort an 
offer of a sum for their release. This common prac- 
tice is designated in the Canton-English jargon, as 
"squeeze pidjin" — the term "pidjin" being a singu- 
lar corruption of the word " business." 

I once saw a man who had been caught stealing at 



PUNISHMENTS. 147 

a fire, confined in a wooden cage about four feet high, 
and three feet square, with his head protruding 
through a hole in the top, which fitted closely about 
his neck. Thus placed, he could neither stand up- 
right nor sit down, but was kept in an exceedingly 
painful, half-stooping posture, till at the expiration of 
two 'days, as I was afterward informed, death came 
to his relief. 

The mode of capital punishment in Canton, is, as 
we have seen, by decapitation. Here at Shanghai, 
it is by strangulation, after the following method : 
A post is set firmly in the ground, and a hole bored 
through it, just at the height of the neck of the cul- 
prit. He is placed with his back against it, and his 
hands are pinioned behind. A rope is then passed in 
a loop through the hole, over the head and around 
the neck of the victim. Two men, each taking an 
end of the rope, draw it tightly, till the poor wretch 
is strangled. I did not wish to witness the execution, 
but went afterward and looked at the post. 

Hanging, drowning and poisoning, are resorted to 
for suicide, by those to whom life is no longer endur- 
able ; and strangely enough too, by those also who wish 
to take vengeance of an enemy. It is more dreaded 
by the object of such revenge, than almost any other, 
because it is believed that the spirit of an enemy thus 
set free, has the power to afliict and torment, in all 
conceivable ways, the surviving adversary through 
all his days. Cruel husbands fear a threat of this 
sort of retaliation, by an oppressed wife, more than 
any other, and often modify their treatment when 
they have reason to think it will be carried into effect. 
A woman once hung herself to a tree not far from my 



14:8 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

residence, for this very purpose, and her unkind liege- 
lord was in a terrible state of alarm on account of tl^e 
anticipated and fearful visitations of her enraged 
spirit. 

Flaying alive, tearing with pincers, and hacking to 
pieces, are also among the punishments in their 
criminal code. 

On one occasion I went, accompanied by Mrs. Taylor 
and a friend, in a covered native boat, to visit a walled 
town twenty miles distant from this place, by water, 
and two miles north of Woosung, the village at the 
mouth of the river on which Shanghai is situated — the 
Ilwang-pu, at its junction with the Yang-tsz-Kiang, 
which is here twenty miles wide. As the country 
here is lower than the river, it is protected from in- 
undation by an embankment or levee, twenty or 
thirty feet high, which extends, we were informed, 
for many miles into the interior. Landing at "Woo- 
sung, we walked along on the top of this embank 
ment for two miles, having the wide, level, highly- 
cultivated country, sprinkled with cottages and ham- 
lets on our left, and the great river of China on our 
right, bounded by the horizon, in its course toward 
the sea. There is a very strong resemblance between 
this river and the adjacent country, protected by 
this embankment, and the Mississippi with the lands 
bordering on it, near New Orleans. This embank- 
ment, faced with heavy stone masonry on the side 
toward the water, for three miles in extent, was, du- 
ring the Opium War, seven years before, surmounted 
with a battery of one hundred and thirty-four guns. 
Most of these cannon were of enormous size, and 
were still lying there, on their huge, immovable 



PATJ-SHAK. 149 

frames, with their yawning mouths yet pointing to- 
ward the broad entrance to the river. Some that 
we saw were fifteen feet long, and would carry a ball 
nine inches in diameter. This point was the scene 
of one of the most hotly-contested engagements in 
the whole war. It was stated that the Chinese 
worked their guns with more skill and effect than 
had ever before been known. They also fought 
bravely hand to hand with the British, who had land- 
ed, but were at last forced to retire, leaving a hun- 
dred dead on the field. Among them was the Gen- 
eral, Chin, who was deified by the Emperor for his 
bravery, and to whose image, sitting in his robes of 
state, in a temple erected to his memory, in Shang- 
hai, divine honors are paid. It was announced after 
his death that he sent down word from heaven that 
he had been appointed second general-in-chief to the 
Board of Thunder, in which capacity he intended to 
exterminate the " red-haired devils," and so repay 
the imperial favor ; for the emperor had given his 
family a thousand taels of silver, and advanced his 
son to the first literary degree, corresponding to 
"Bachelor of Arts." 

When in London, five years after, I saw among the 
trophies in the Tower, a curious brass cannon that 
was among those captured in that battle on this very 
spot. Only those of iron were left in the places where 
they were found, and where we saw them. 

A half hour's walk on this splendid embankment 
brought us to Pau-shan, for this is the name of the 
town. It is surrounded by a brick wall, about twenty 
feet high, has four gates like those of Shanghai, and 
contains a population of about five thousand. We 



150 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

entered the eastern one, and were quite surprised at 
finding multitudes of people, but scarcely any shops. 
We soon learned, however, that the town was almost 
exclusively occupied by the families of those culti- 
vating the fields without the walls, and that they lived 
in this manner within the city, for greater security 
against the pirates who formerly made frequent attacks 
upon the defenceless farmers. I distributed a large 
number of tracts and copies of the Ten Commandments 
to the people who crowded around us in the narrow 
streets ; and while Mrs. T. and our friend went into 
the cool recess of a large temple to rest after their 
walk, I stood on the stone steps at the door without, 
and addressed the multitude that had assembled, for 
about an hour, on the first and second command- 
ments. They listened attentively, said they under- 
stood me, and assented to the excellence of the doc- 
trine, as they are generally ready to do, but, at the 
same time, they manifest an apathy that is most pain- 
ful to the heart of the missionary. After a short time 
we returned to our boat, ate a cold dinner with a 
hearty relish, and, with the favorable tide, were on 
our way back to Shanghai. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PREPARATION OF TEA — AGRICULTURE — FUEL. 

Modes of preparing " Green Tea" and " Black Tea" — Prussian Blue 
— Personal Observation — Signification of the different Names of Teas 
— Agricultural Implements — Two Varieties of Oxen — Culture ot 
Rice — Mode of Manuring — Floating Gardens — Fuel — Wood — Coal 
— Hand and Foot Stoves — How Beds are warmed in Winter — 
The " Bamboo " or Cane — Its many Uses — Sedans — How made — 
Funeral Processions — Customs on such occasions. 

As the tea-plant does not grow in the vicinity of 
Shanghai, but in the hilly portions of the country, 
we know little of its culture from personal observa- 
tion. A few facts may be mentioned to correct some 
erroneous notions that are prevalent among our coun- 
trymen at home. 

The same plant produces all the varieties. The 
different times of gathering, and modes of prepara- 
tion, cause all the difference between those kinds 
known by so many distinct names — both of green 
and black. The leaves only are picked, and not the 
flowers : they are all rolled with the fingers. Those 
dried rapidly in iron basins over a fire become " green 
tea" while those thrown into very hot basins, then 
taken quickly out, exposed to the sun for a while, and 
afterward dried over a fire, become " black tea." 
These " pans," as some writers call them, but more 



152 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

correctly, bowls or basins, for they are nearly semi- 
globular in shape, and about eighteen inches in diam- 
eter — are always of iron — never of copper. A mix- 
ture of prussian blue and gypsum is used in the 
preparation of some green teas ; but the better quali- 
ties are generally perfectly pure. 

The native building on the North Gate street in 
which we lived during the first year of our residence 
at Shanghai, was rented, after we left it, to a tea- 
merchant. On visiting it afterward, I found he had 
turned our former kitchen into a tea-coloring room. 
There were around the sides of the apartment, four- 
teen of these iron bowls, set in mortar on the top of as 
many brick furnaces, in which moderate fires were 
burning. Thirteen of the bowls were half-filled with 
tea-leaves, and a man stood at each, rapidly stirring 
them with his hand. The remaining bowl contained 
a quantity of this bluish-green coloring matter, which 
another was also stirring. To this, one the men from 
the others would come every few minutes, and, tak- 
ing from it a small quantity of the contents, would 
return and stir it, each into his bowl of the leaves, till 
they had acquired the requisite hue. The exceed- 
ingly minute quantity of prussian blue that any per- 
son could imbibe, in drinking tea from leaves thus 
prepared, precludes, in my opinion, the possibility of 
injury resulting therefrom. 

The significations of some of the names by which 
teas are known, are as follows — making due allow- 
ance for the changes and corruption they undergo, in 
form and sound, in being Anglicized. "Hyson" 
means " before the rains," or " flourishing spring" — 
that is, early in the spring. Hence, it is often called 



AGRICULTURE. 153 

" Young Hyson." " Hyson skin" is composed of the 
refuse of the other kinds, the native term for which 
means " tea-skins." Refuse, of a still coarser descrip- 
tion, containing many stems, is called "tea-bones." 
" Bohea " is the name of the hills in the region where 
it is collected. " Pekoe" or " Pecco" means " white 
hairs" — the down on the tender leaves. "Pouchong" — 
"folded plant." " Souchong"—" small plant." " Twan- 
kay " is the name of a stream in the province whence 
it is brought. " Congo" is from a term signifying 
" labor," from the care required in its preparation. 

Agriculture is carried to a high degree of perfec- 
tion among the Chinese. They can probably pro- 
duce more from a piece of land of given size, than 
any other people on earth. Their implements are 
simple and primitive. The plough consists of a hori- 
zontal beam mortised into another, at an angle of 
about forty -five degrees. The latter is a little sharp- 
ened at the point, where it meets the ground, and 
the upper end is tapered and slightly curved into a 
single handle. This is held by one hand, and in the 
other is a cord attached to the nose of the ox that 
is geared to the plough by rope traces, and a single- 
tree. In the soft land about Shanghai no iron plough- 
share or blade is required ; but such are doubtless used 
in other parts of the country, where the soil is more 
difficult to break up. The harrow and hoe are quite 
similar to ours. 

There are two distinct varieties of cattle. One is a 
large, clumsy, ugly animal, and has almost as little 
hair as an elephant, which it also much resembles in 
color. Its horns are somewhat like those of the buf- 
falo : hence it is called by foreign residents the 

7* 



154: FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

" Buffalo-ox." But its native name signifies " Water- 
ox," given from its exceeding fondness of the water ; 
in which it will remain for hours entirely submerged, 
except its nose. It is a vicious animal, and can be 
held only by a strong cord passed through the divid- 
ing cartilage between the nostrils. The other variety 
— the " yellow ox," is much smaller, being not more 
than three and a half feet in height, while the other 
is four and a half. It is neatly and symmetrically 
formed, has slender, well shaped legs, and a cartila- 
ginous protuberance, covered with long hair, on the 
top of the neck, about midway between the shoulders 
and horns ; the latter are short and blunt, and bear 
the appearance of having been broken off — being but 
about four inches in length. It is generally bay, but 
sometimes of various colors, like the cattle of our 
own country, and its hair is short, thick, soft, and 
glossy. As there are no fences nor hedges between 
adjacent fields and farms, the cattle must always be 
tethered, when allowed to feed about the grave 
mounds, or by the public path-sides, which constitute 
their principal public grazing grounds. But very 
few of them are raised, because they are only needed 
for ploughing and harrowing ; and as the amount of 
land owned by one family is at most but small — 
often not being more than an acre, and even less — one 
ox can do the work of a half dozen farmers, and they 
share his support among them. The mills also, for 
grinding cotton or other seed for oil, or the grains for 
flour, are turned mostly by these oxen, working 
singly, like a horse in a bark-mill in our own country. 
There, is no water-power near Shanghai for these 
mills ; but I saw one thus turned on a hill-side during a 



AGRICULTURE. 155 

trip to Nanking, about two hundred miles from the sea. 
The few cattle are fed during winter on cakes of ground 
cotton-seed from which the oil has been expressed. 

In the cultivation of rice, a small patch, of perhaps 
forty or fifty feet square, is sown with the seed as 
thickly as it can possibly grow. • When about s'x 
inches high it is pulled up in handfuls, which are 
tied by a wisp of grass or straw, into bundles. These 
are carried in large two-handled baskets to the field, 
which has been prepared, by being well broken up 
and overflowed with water, which remains upon it to 
the depth of five or six inches. The bunches of rice 
seedlings are then scattered all over the field ; and 
from six to twelve men begin at one end of it, pick- 
ing up the bunches as they come to them, and then 
detaching a single root at a time, transplant them 
one by one, six inches apart, till the whole field is 
stocked. Thus every stalk of rice in the empire 
passes through human fingers. 

The mode of cultivating most other vegetables is 
so nearly similar to our own as not to require special 
description, except perhaps to say, that more care is 
used in the preparation of the soil, and that it is far 
more highly manured than among us. Guano has 
been brought from South America, and its extraor- 
dinary virtues have been set forth, in advertisements 
posted up in public places, and circulated among the 
people. The experiment is still in the bud, but it 
never can supersede such ordures as are now in 
universal use throughout the empire, though it may 
be introduced and extensively used, The present 
mode of manuring, and collecting manure, is disgust- 
ing and loathsome to the last degree, Every field 



156 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA 

has its large open vat, or else an enormous jar of 
coarse earthenware, partly sunken in the ground, into 
which the large buckets of human filth, purchased 
from the owners of the public sinks in the city, are 
emptied. It is then diluted by the addition of water, 
and thrown over the field or garden with long- 
handled wooden dippers, filling the air with the most 
intolerable odors. The result, however, is seen in the 
amazing luxuriance of these fields and vegetable gar- 
dens, and the wonderful productiveness thus imparted. 

You may occasionally see a raft or large shallow 
box of well fitted plank, some twelve or fifteen 
feet square, having sides about six inches high. 
It is filled with earth, and is afloat on the waters 
of the creek, river, canal or lake ; and its contracted 
space is so carefully and economically cultivated 
that it well-nigh, if not entirely, supplies all the 
vegetables used by the family who own this floating 
garden, either attached to their floating dwelling — 
their boat, or moored near the shore. 

Fuel is scarce and expensive. Wood is brought in 
bundles, each containing about an armful, down from 
the far interior on boats, and sold to wholesale deal- 
ers. These bundles are then divided into smaller 
ones, of various sizes, in the retail shops, where you 
can buy a pound, or a half pound, if you like. It is 
sold by weight. So also is coal, which is found here 
in both varieties — anthracite and bituminous, brought 
from distant mines. Besides these, the natives col- 
lect, dry, and preserve for fuel, whatever will bum, 
if it be not more valuable for some other purpose. 
The tall weeds that grow abundantly on the banks of 
canals, rivers, and pools — those also that are found in 



FUEL. 157 

burial-grounds and along way-sides — bushes, vines, 
grass, and straw, all are carefully gathered in autumn, 
and laid away for cooking during the winter. 

Certain preparations of mineral coal and charcoal, 
coarsely powdered, are mixed with water and some 
adhesive substance, then formed by the hand or 
molded into small balls, and dried, to be sold for 
burning in hand-stoves and foot-stoves. These are 
made of brass or copper, polished, and have covers 
wrought in fanciful open-work. They are half-filled 
with ashes. One of the combustible balls is then ig- 
nited by being placed in a fire for a few moments. 
It is then transferred to the copper foot-stool, and is 
covered with the ashes. It will there impart sufficient 
heat to keep the feet warm for a whole day, before it 
is entirely consumed. The small balls for the hand- 
stoves cost one coin — the larger ones, two. This is 
the only fuel I have ever seen used by the people 
generally, expressly for warming themselves. Of 
course, whenever a fire is required for cooking, or any 
other purpose, they also avail themselves of the op- 
portunity ; but so soon as the process is finished — 
cooking, for example — they instantly extinguish the 
fire. If it be in the winter season, they often trans- 
fer the glowing embers to an earthen pan, and place 
it under a crib made of straw, twisted and fastened, 
as we have seen bee-hives — the lower part being 
made clQse so as to retain the heat, which would com- 
municate warmth to the infant in the upper. It has 
been stated to me that in the more northern parts of 
the country, where the winters are longer, and the 
cold intense, beds for adults as well as children are 
constructed over ovens, for this same purpose. 



158 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

The bamboo forms beautiful groves for ornament 
and shade ; the sprout, before it appears above the 
ground, is an excellent article of food. It alwaj T s 
attains its full size in one year, for it grows with 
amazing rapidity. I measured one in my own yard, 
and found it had grown eighteen inches in twenty- 
four hours. It then supplies material for an immense 
variety of uses ; for it grows much larger than the 
cane in our own country, with which it is identical — 
being often six inches in diameter, and then forming, 
with its natural joints, for the bottom, small buckets, 
cups, and boxes, without number. It furnishes han- 
dles for hoes, rakes, shovels, brooms, and poles for 
every purpose for which they can be required. Of 
it, chairs, tables, bedsteads, settees, baskets, pipes, 
musical instruments, and an innumerable variety of 
other articles are made. It is almost as indispensable 
to the Chinese as iron itself. In some parts of the 
country I have seen the entire frame of the cottages 
of the poor made of the bamboo, while, splintered, it 
is woven into mats and screens, and twisted into 
ropes. 

The frame of the sedan, about two and a half feet 
square, by five in height, as well as the poles, fifteen 
feet long, attached to its sides, two feet from the bot- 
tom, and by which it is borne along, are made of this 
cheap, strong, and universal substitute for wood. 
The common sedan is covered with coarse blue cotton 
cloth ; the finer ones, of blue or brown broadcloth, 
which is protected from the rain by an outer cover- 
ing of oiled silk or cotton. They are lined with silk, 
and have a large pane of glass on every side, at a 
convenient height above the seat, to allow the person 



SEDANS. 159 

riding to look out in all directions. They are pro- 
vided with curtains, so that you may be entirely 
screened from the view of persons without if you de- 
sire it. There is a set of blinds belonging to it for 
use in summer, when the glass windows are taken 
out. Two is the ordinary number of bearers, and of 
course, the least that can be required ; but an officer 
of a certain grade may have four, and so they may 
increase, according to rank, to eight, sixteen, and 
twenty-four ; none but the emperor may be borne by 
thirty-two. 

In funeral processions, many of the near relatives of 
the deceased, particularly the females, are borne in 
sedans, which have long wide strips of coarse white 
cotton cloth thrown over them, while narrower pieces 
of the same material are bound around the heads of 
the mourners. All the members of his immediate 
family are dressed entirely in white — the sons wear- 
ing long garments of coarse bagging — " sackcloth " — 
confined about the waist by a rope of twisted straw, 
and having the borders ravelled and torn. If the 
residence be within the walls of the city, the sons, 
proceeding in front of the coffin, must walk back- 
ward, with their faces toward it, till it has passed the 
gates. The females are expected to indulge in loud 
lamentations along the whole way, and at the grave ; 
but the hiales must maintain a dignified composure 
of deportment throughout the entire ceremonies ; it 
would be highly indecorous for them to weep. At 
the grave, the position for the coffin having been 
minutely pointed out by the geomancer, many small 
cups of wine and tea, and dishes containing various 
meats, vegetables, and fruits, are placed, three in a 



1 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

row, at the head of the coffin ; wax candles, incense- 
sticks, and gilt paper are lighted — all as offerings to 
the spirit of the deceased. The relations then pros- 
trate themselves, worshipping his spirit, the females 
loudly wailing, while a horrible din of musical instru- 
ments accompanies their dismal howlings. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

FEAST OF LANTERNS — FAMINE — FUNEEAL RITES. 

Tower of Lanterns — Fireworks — The " Dragon Lantern " — Origin of 
the Holiday — Superstitious Practices on that Day — Arrival of ray 
Colleague at Shanghai — Famine — Extreme Suffering — Charity of 
Foreign Merchants — Worship of Ancestors — Rites for the Dead — 
Modes of burial — Ancient Tombs — " Mass for the Dead " — Change 
of Residence. 

The middle of the first moon of the Chinese year is 
always quite a holiday with that people, chiefly be- 
cause the so-called " Feast of Lanterns " is celebrated 
on this day. But the term " feast " is rather a mis- 
nomer as applied to this occasion, and is apt to con- 
vey an erroneous impression of its character ; for so 
far as eating and drinking are concerned, it differs 
nothing from ordinary days. Its distinguishing fea- 
ture consists in the display of the common oiled-paper 
lanterns in great numbers, suspended in front of 
shops and dwellings along the streets, in the temples, 
and from poles erected for that purpose. Ornament- 
al glass and paper lanterns are also used by those 
who can afford the expense. The tower of lanterns 
is the most showy object of the evening. This con- 
sists of a pole some forty or fifty feet in height, sur- 
rounded by a slender frame-work of cords and sticks 
of bamboo, so arranged as to form five, seven, nine, 
eleven, or thirteen stories, three or four feet apart — 



162 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

always odd numbers, and seldom less than five or 
more than thirteen ; though I have seen as many as 
seventeen. The bamboo sticks are tied together at 
the ends in pairs, three of which are stretched apart 
and placed across each other, so as to give a star-shaped 
hexagon. This frame forms one story of the tower 
or pagoda, and a lantern is suspended from each of 
its corners. Small red wax candles are put in the 
lanterns on the ground, and as all composing each 
successive story are lighted, it is drawn up by means 
of a pulley-like arrangement at the top until the 
whole is completed. High above all is a bamboo pole 
about ten feet long, suspended horizontally across the 
top, with from two to nine lanterns dangling from it. 
When all are lighted, the sight is a very pretty one, 
but the effect is greatly diminished by the, fact that 
it is always at the time of full moon. These lantern 
towers are very numerous, and may be seen in every 
direction for several nights preceding and following 
the middle of the month. 

There is always a plentiful display of the usual 
fireworks on the occasion, especially in the Ching 
wong miau — city guardian's temple — which is dense- 
ly thronged. These consist of fire crackers, " double- 
headers," " Eoman candles," squibs, rockets, " flower 
pots," etc., all of which, excepting the two first 
named, are far inferior to the pyrotechnic displays in 
the United States. A " dragon lantern " is paraded 
about the streets on this and other occasions. It is 
composed of a number of cylinders of bamboo hoops 
covered with thin paper, with places for candles 
inside. The head is of the same material, and is 
shaped like that of an enormous dragon, with glaring 



FEAST OF LANTERNS. 163 

eyes, and its huge jaws widely distended, ready to 
seize a large round ball which is carried just before 
it, and is also a bamboo frame work covered with 
paper. Each cylinder, being about the size of a large 
barrel, forms a joint of the dragon's body, and is car- 
ried by a man on a stick a few feet above his head ; 
so that when the candles are lighted, and the proces- 
sion moves, it has the appearance of a hideous dragon 
pursuing the luminous ball. A flexible motion like 
that of a serpent, is communicated by the men wav- 
ing the paper cylinders as they carry them along. 
It has been suggested that the idea had its origin in 
the Chinese theory of eclipses, which is, that a dragon 
is eating the sun or moon, and they frighten him away 
by the terrific noise of gongs, drums, horns, cymbals, 
etc. A plentiful supply of this music accompanies 
the procession, with a chorus of shouts from the men 
and boys composing it. 

The Feast of Lanterns originated about a.d. 627, 
during the reign of Tait-sung, second emperor of the 
Tang dynasty. It seems that in the Imperial city, 
all persons were prohibited from perambulating the 
streets after a certain hour at night. But affairs be- 
ing prosperous, and universal tranquillity pervading 
his dominions, this emperor directed the chief of the 
night police to withdraw the prohibition for this 
night — the 15th of the first month. Whereupon the 
people made it an occasion of great rejoicing, passing 
the whole night in going about with lanterns, and 
engaging in such amusements as they pleased. So it 
has been handed down through twelve hundred years 
to the present time. 

The people have a number of silly superstitions 



164 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

associated with this night, though in no way con- 
nected with the feast of lanterns. 

Those living in the country set fire to the stubble 
of the grass left on the grave-mounds from last year's 
cutting of fuel, and allow it to spread in all directions, 
till it ceases of its own accord. This, they say, is to 
burn up any evil influences that may exist, and who- 
ever sees the stubble burning will thereby insure 
themselves a wholesome condition of body for the 
year. 

The country people also on this night eat bean 
curds, and vermicelli in its long unbroken state — the 
former typifying cotton, and the latter the cords used 
for binding together the large round baskets contain- 
ing it. They do this that they may realize an abun- 
dant crop of cotton during the season. 

They also eat round balls of rice flour, in the mid- 
dle of which are small quantities of meat, vegetables 
and confections ; believing that, having eaten these, 
should they chance during the year to swallow a bit 
of bristle while eating pork, it will not hurt them. 
It is to be observed they ascribe a certain disease 
among them to a pig's bristle lodged, as they imagine, 
in some corner of the intestines. These rice balls are 
also placed as propitiatory offerings before the kitchen 
god, which is supposed to descend from heaven on 
this day, and take his accustomed place over the 
cooking range — having been absent since the 23d of 
the last month, on his annual mission to his superior 
deity, to render up his account of the family during 
the year just closed. 

Another superstitious notion is, that if a person 
crosses three bridges on this evening, he will, by so 



FEAST OF LANTEKNS. 165 

doing, secure vigorous health for the year just com- 
menced. 

There is yet another practice equally absurd with 
the foregoing, observed by some, as follows : An 
individual goes out of his house about midnight, and 
the first sentence he may chance to hear uttered by 
any person passing, or one or two conversing as 
they walk along, he considers as indicative of his own 
fortune for the year. If he finds no one in the street, 
he goes from door to door of his neighbors' dwellings 
or shops, until he hears some one talking, and the 
first sentence that he catches in this way he regards 
as prophetic. Should it be one in which happiness, 
health, or prosperity of any kind are named or alluded 
to, he returns home with a glad heart, imagining 
these will be his lot. But if, on the contrary, mis- 
fortune, sickness, or death, are mentioned, he is filled 
with gloomy forebodings for the future. 

My colleague, Rev. B. Jenkins, with his family, 
arrived at Shanghai in May, having been delayed at 
Hong Kong by the illness of his wife, and by adverse 
winds, for about nine months. During that time, they 
had made two attempts to come up the coast, but in 
both, had encountered terrible typhoons, and narrow- 
ly escaping shipwreck, were compelled to put back to 
Hong Kong. 

My journal, under date of July 12, 1849, says : 
The present season has been a very remarkable one 
for the long continuance of heavy rains which threat- 
en to cut off the rice crops in all this region for hun- 
dreds of miles around. Nothing of the like has been 
experienced for twenty-six years before, and the 
mandarins have proclaimed fasts, during which no 



166 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

flesh is to be eaten, and the people are exhorted to 
repair to the temples and pray the gods to avert their 
anger, for they believe their deities are displeased, 
and they assign this as the cause of the great rains. 
Certain it is, a famine is threatened, and unless a 
change takes place soon, thousands must perish from 
starvation before the close of the year. Little can be 
done by human aid to prevent this, but there is a yet 
more alarming destitution of the bread of life, which 
it is within the province of human agency to relieve, 
since it has pleased the Great Head of the Church to 
use man as the instrument for the conversion of his 
fellow- man. 

Oct. 2Zd. — The long spring rains did not cease till 
the middle of July. The consequence of these rains 
has been the total destruction of the rice and cotton 
crops in large portions of the country, and the pro- 
duction of distress among the population amounting 
to a famine in many places. The price of rice has 
doubled, and very heavy shipments of it are coming 
in from Manilla, Batavia, and Canton. It is said that 
in some parts of the country many of the inhabitants 
have been driven by necessity to eat the leaves and 
bark of trees, the chaff of rice, and such food as in 
ordinary times they give only to pigs and dogs. Not- 
withstanding this, great numbers have died of starva- 
tion — how many, it is impossible to compute. The 
wretchedness that we have been witnessing daily for 
the last two months is heart-sickening. "Whether 
attracted by the wealth, or their opinion of the chari- 
table feelings of foreigners, I know not, but thousands 
of the suffering poor from the neighboring cities, 
towns, villages, and surrounding country, have flocked 



FAMINE. 167 

to Shanghai for relief. A subscription, amounting to 
several hundreds of dollars, was very promptly raised 
by the foreign community, and a number of large 
soup establishments were opened in different sections 
of the city, for the gratuitous supply of rice soup, or 
congee, to the poor, upon the presentation of tickets, 
which are numerously distributed every day. I 
have seen, on going out in the morning, as many as 
a hundred at my gate, begging most piteously for 
food. 

The number of beggars who have died in the 
streets of Shanghai during the past year, is over four 
hundred. I have, on several occasions, seen three 
persons lying dead at one time, within a hundred 
yards of each other ; and you can scarcely ever walk 
through the city without seeing one or more. Many 
of these wretched beings hasten their death by smok- 
ing opium, and I have known them to give what few 
cash they had begged during a whole day, for a pipe 
of this destructive article, when at the same moment 
they seemed to be actually starving for want of food — 
with such a deadly grasp does this pernicious habit 
hold its victims. The beggars, from their great num- 
bers, find it exceedingly difficult to get a shelter of any 
kind from the rain, and some have been seen to crawl 
into graves that have been built of brick partly above 
ground, in a semi-cylindrical form, one end of the 
arch having fallen down ; and there would they 
sleep, the living among the dead, after removing the 
bones of the original tenant to the further end of the 
vault. We hope, however, that this distress will soon 
have an end, for the spring vegetables are now appear- 
ing in great abundance, and the fields are teeming 



168 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

with heavy crops of grain. This physical suffering 
does but faintly shadow forth the moral destitution of 
these millions of immortal souls perishing for lack of 
knowledge. 

A feeling of impatience sometimes arises, that my 
ignorance of the language must delay me for so long 
a time in explaining fully and intelligibly to the 
thousands of degraded heathen at my very door, the 
only way of salvation through faith in a crucified 
Saviour. Yet it is a heartfelt satisfaction to be able 
to utter, even in broken accents, some p]ain and sim- 
ple truths, and to find that my meaning is compre- 
hended, when declaring the uselessness and absurdity 
of worshipping images of wood, and stone, and paper, 
and brass, and iron; and recommending the God 
of the Bible as the only Being deserving Divine 
honors. 

The Chinese are even more strongly wedded to the 
worship of ancestors, than to that of idols. A few 
evenings since, as I was passing one of the streets 
near my residence, a confused din of what the natives 
call musical instruments, attracted my notice to the 
dwelling from which it proceeded. A }'0uth had just 
burned a house of straw, about two feet square, and 
some gilt paper representing money, with the firm 
belief that his grandfather in the spirit land immedi- 
ately received them in the form of a substantial habi- 
tation and real coin. Entering the place through a 
narrow passage, I met the present master of the 
family — a son of the deceased — who very politely 
invited me to be seated, having a chair at the same 
time placed for me, and offered me a tea cup of a 
beverage like hot sweetened water. I took and 



FUNERAL RITES. 169 

sipped it, and in a few minutes he beckoned me to 
follow him, while he led the way into an inner room, 
where was a table, three feet square, spread with a 
great variety of Chinese dainties on small dishes. 
Behind the table was a white curtain extending across 
the room, which he lifted up, showing me two coffins 
of the peculiar construction common in this country, 
made of pieces of wood from four to six inches thick, 
very tightly fitted, and so fastened together with 
wooden pins as to form a thick, heavy plank. This 
gives the coffin a very clumsy appearance, but they 
are so cemented inside and out, that they are very 
durable, and so perfectly air-tight, that, although 
kept, containing the body of the deceased, in the very 
apartments occupied by the family, no unpleasant 
odor is ever perceived. The two before me were 
painted and varnished of a reddish brown — the usual 
color — and ornamented with gilt figures on the larger 
end, toward which the head is placed. If the indi- 
vidual dying and coffined in this manner, leave a wife 
or husband, when the survivor dies, the two are car- 
ried out and buried in the same grave, which is dug 
about three feet, and walled up on the sides and ends 
in the most substantial way to the same height above 
ground, covered with a roof resembling that of a house, 
and plastered with excellent lime. Sometimes the ma- 
son-work is not continued much above the level of the 
earth, and the soil thrown over the whole, forming a 
mound from three to twelve feet high. The modes 
of burial are very different, according to the wealth 
and rank of the individual. Beggars, who die in the 
streets, are put into rudely made boxes of thin rough 
plank, and deposited at public expense, in a kind of 
8 



170 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

" Potter's Field," before described. Those who are 
a step or two above these in life, but do not beg for 
a livelihood, can place their dead, free of expense, in 
a public cemetery. They will suffer almost any in- 
convenience, however, rather than do this, for it is 
considered very disreputable, and a man would sub- 
ject himself to the most galling reproaches from his 
friends and relatives, who thus disposed of his dead. 
They will rather keep the coffin with its tenant in the 
same apartments in which they eat, and drink, and 
sleep for years, until they can accumulate a suffi- 
cient amount to buy a piece of land large enough for 
a grave, or they will hire a spot on which to set the 
coffin for one or two hundred copper " cash" — ten or 
twelve cents — a year, until such time as they are able 
to purchase. Hence you will see great numbers of 
these receptacles for the dead all over the country, 
either entirely exposed, or bound about with straw 
and mats, to protect them from the effects of the 
weather. Many remain thus unburied till they fall 
to pieces from decay, leaving the skeleton wholly 
exposed to view. The bones are then put into an 
earthen jar by the relatives of the person, if there 
be any living, who become acquainted with the fact. 
Otherwise such, relics are collected at the annual sea- 
son for worshipping ancestors, by persons employed 
for that purpose by the native authorities, and placed 
in the public cemetery before mentioned. Such is the 
regard for the dead ; and taken in itself, apart from 
its idolatrous concomitants, it is really a beautiful and 
praiseworthy feature in their superstitions. 

Tombs built of stone or brick in the horse-shoe 
form, so common further to the south, are not found 



FUNERAL RITES. 171 

here, so far, at least, as I have seen. There are a few 
sepulchres of mandarins of high rank, that occupy 
nearly an acre of land. At one end of the space is an 
immense semi-circle of earth, thrown up to'the height 
of fifteen or twenty feet, and just within this is a 
smaller one ; then in the centre of all, a mound about 
four feet high, of conical shape, ovjer the spot where 
the body was buried. In front of this, the ground is 
open and level, affording convenient access to the 
place ; and some thirty or forty feet in advance of 
the extremities of the semi-circles, still in a line with 
them, stand two figures of men, twice the size of life, 
wearing the costume of the Ming dynasty, during 
which these tombs are said to have been erected, above 
two hundred years ago. These two personages con- 
stitute the guard of the grave and its occupant, and 
are assisted in their duty by two figures of lions, 
about thirty feet still further in front, then two horses, 
ready saddled and bridled, for the use of the departed 
spirit, about the same distance further still, and last 
of all, two rams, the signification of which I have not 
yet learned. These are all of hewn stone, and stand 
facing each other in pairs. In some instances they 
have fallen prostrate from their pedestals — the foun- 
dation having given way — and are often partly or 
quite imbedded in the earth. 

There may also be seen in this vicinity, inclosures 
containing from a sixth of an acre to an acre of land, 
filled with cedars and other evergreens, forming a 
dense, delightful shade, and in the centre is a simple 
mound eight or ten feet high, having a plain, square 
well-hewn stone, placed upright in the earth at the 
•bottom, like grave-stones in the United States, in- 



172 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

scribed with the name and titles of the dead. Then 
a beautiful green hedge surrounds the whole. Nearly 
all the graves, especially those of a comparatively 
recent date — of the common, as well as of the wealthy 
classes, — are provided with these tomb-stones, the 
greater number of which are unhewn, having simply 
the names of the individuals carved upon them. Yast 
numbers of these graves are situated side by side as 
close to each other as possible, resembling a thickly 
peopled graveyard in our own country. 

But all this is quite a digression from the incident 
I was relating. Adjoining the room where the feast 
was spread for the spirit of the departed, was a thick, 
square, brown cloth, smoothly placed upon the floor 
of large, square tiles, and on this cloth, rice was so 
strewn as to form various figures and flowers, all sur- 
rounding a small idol which twelve Tauist priests were 
worshipping, three on each side of the square, stand- 
ing with their faces toward it, as it was seated in the 
centre. Eight of them had instruments with which 
they produced the discordant sounds which first drew 
my attention to the spot. Their heads were closely 
shaven, and they all were attired in long, loose robes, 
that might once have been white, the middle one of 
each trio having, in addition upon his back, a piece 
of black satin a foot square, richly embroidered with 
silk and gold. These four also wore small, square, 
black caps, and one of them who seemed to be chief, 
was repeating mummeries that as strongly resembled 
those of the Roman Catholics, as did the general ap- 
pearance of the priests that of the Romish clergy 
officiating in their canonicals. The idol represented 
the god of the lower regions, and they were actually. 



^A 



FUNERAL RITES. 173 

praying the man's soul out of purgatory ! The num- 
ber of priests officiating, and the number of prayers 
offered, are proportioned to the amount paid for the 
purpose, just as in the Church of Rome. The scene 
I have described was nothing more nor less than a 
mass for the dead. Their supplications were sus- 
pended at short intervals, when they were very 
affable and communicative, and as I took the li- 
berty of remonstrating against such absurdities, they 
laughed and said it was "Song-hay "kway-teuP — 
"Shanghai custom." 

This is but one manifestation of the multiform 
superstitions of this poor benighted people, — when 
will they learn the " more excellent way ?" 

My journal contains the following entries, made in 
October : 

As soon as it could be procured, I purchased a plat 
of ground on the bank of the Yang-king-pang, near a 
narrow wooden bridge. It is from a quarter to a 
third of an acre in extent, and I have built a small 
temporary dwelling upon it, in which my little family 
can live a year or two, and even longer if necessary. 
This little domicil is now just finished, and we have 
moved into it. Contracted as it is, it will be more 
convenient and healthy than the Chinese house we 
have hitherto occupied. 

Mrs. T. is pleased with the change. Our little boy 
also seems to breathe new life, and prattles Chinese 
with increased vivacity, as you would soon be con- 
vinced if you were sitting with me in my study at 
this moment and listening while the little fellow 
strives to repeat the sounds which his nurse is trying 
to teach him. She is highly delighted to find that 



L^ 



174: FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

he understands and pronounces her native tongue 
with greater facility than ours, and diligently im- 
proves the advantage she has gained, by giving him 
lessons every day. She is remarkably fond of him, 
and her affection is so warmly reciprocated, that his 
mother pretends to be quite jealous, and often says 
the child loves his " suug-sung " (nurse) better than 
he does herself. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Passages from my Journal — Birds — An Old Grave — A Liberal Allow- 
ance — Life on Boats — A Drowned Boy — Death of our Babe — Rev. 
Dr. Medhurst — A Trip into the Country — Monumental Tablets — 
Preaching and Tract Distribution — Death of the Emperor Tau- 
Kwang — " Reason's Glory " — Accession of Hien-Foong — Triad 
Society — Ceremonies — Ranks of Mandarins — Sam-qua — Death of 
Empress Dowager — Beautiful Sentiments. 

On this bright seventeenth day of October, a lovely 
month in China, as well as in my native land, I sit in 
my study with my old teacher by my side. The door 
is open toward the south, and the meridian sun is 
now beaming in upon the threshhold. Just in front 
of our humble dwelling, only fifteen yards off, stands 
a beautiful little grove of bamboos waving gracefully 
in the breeze. A loving pair of doves have their nest 
among the branches, and occasionally entertain us 
with their cooing, while numberless little sparrows, 
sporting in the dense foliage, enliven the passing 
hours with their sweet chirping. These pretty birds 
are precisely like those in the United States of the 
same names, and as we never molest them, they seem 
to have taken up their permanent abode on our 
premises, for a bamboo fence ten feet high protects 
them from molestation from without. Yines of two 
or three varieties are trailing luxuriantly on the fence, 
covering it in some places with their large green 
leaves. Within the inclosure are several mounds of 



L 



176 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

earth over tombs constructed in the most substantial 
manner, of bricks and lime, which have withstood 
the ravages of time for centuries. Having occasion 
to remove some of these we found a tablet in one or 
them, fourteen inches square, made of a large tile 
smoothly planed on one side, and marked off into 
square spaces in which were written characters de- 
noting the name, age and several other particulars 
respecting the occupant, which could be but indis- 
tinctly made out as the characters were mostly oblite- 
rated. Those designating the time of the death and 
burial were perfectly legible, and showed it to have 
been during the Ming dynasty, above two hundred 
years ago. My teacher also deciphered others which 
stated that ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and 
ninety-nine pieces of paper money were burned on 
the occasion, for the use of the departed spirit. Each 
of these pieces represented a lump of sycee silver 
worth about eighteen dollars, which would amount 
in the aggregate to $1,799,982 ; — quite a liberal ap- 
propriation, when you consider that in reality the 
whole cost of the paper money was only $65, at the 
present prices. Why this particular number of 
pieces, a million, minus one, the old man was unable 
to inform me. 

Our little house stands fronting toward the south, 
in a bend of the creek on which the lot is situated, 
and the water sweeping in a beautiful curve around 
the spot, presents, at high tide, quite a picturesque 
appearance. Its name, " Yang-Mng-pang" signifies 
"ocean flowing stream," whether because it flows 
toward the ocean, or its waters are supplied by the 
ocean I am unable to say. The banks of this stream 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 177 

are lined with boats, while its channel is alive with 
others passing with the ebbing and flowing tides. 
These boats are for the most part the only dwellings 
of the families they contain, and in addition to this 
you will often see one end of the boat occupied as a 
workshop, while the family live in the other. I have 
seen mantua-making, basket-making and the manufac- 
tures of brass kettles and pans, and other trades, car- 
ried on this way. The central portion is the dormi- 
tory, between the shop and the kitchen. At meal- 
time, the men, women and children assemble around 
a large dish of boiled rice, near which stands a 
smaller one of greens, or fish, and occasionally some 
kind of meat. Each one is armed with a small bowd 
and a pair of chopsticks, and thus equipped, they 
commence a simultaneous attack upon the rice and 
greens, which is kept up with great vigor, till the 
heap of rice falls before the hungry assailants. The 
quantity of this article they can cram into one stomach 
is really astonishing. The repast is usually finished 
by drinking tea, which, among this class of people, is 
most frequently served up in a tea-pot passing from 
mouth to mouth. Sometimes, however, it is poured 
out into small cups or bowls. The women generally 
seem disposed to be cleanly in their apparel to a cer- 
tain extent, and especially the neatness and care with 
which they always comb and put up their hair is very 
commendable. Frequently they display no little 
taste in arranging this part of their toilet, as they sit 
in their boats. 

Last Friday we were attracted to the window by 
the wailing of a female, and on looking over to the 
opposite side of the creek, we saw a woman standing 

8* 



178 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

on the bank in an agony of grief, as she pointed to 
the lifeless body of her child, a little boy about 
twelve years old, lying in the edge of the water. He 
had fallen from their boat the night before, and the 
ebbing tide discovered his stiffened corpse to his dis- 
tracted mother, some hundred yards from the spot 
where he had fallen in. She bared her legs to the 
knees, waded down the muddy bank and pulling out 
the body of her son, carried it in her arms to her 
boat, uttering all along the most heart-rending lamen- 
tations. On the next day he was put into an un- 
planed pine coffin of the rudest possible construction, 
a few pieces of gilt paper were burned for him, and 
he was taken away to burial ; or more likely to be 
placed on the surface of the ground without a hand- 
ful of earth to cover his remains, as is the case in 
numerous instances. On this occasion, I have no 
doubt, the grief was deep and unfeigned ; but I have 
as little, that in many others which I have witnessed, 
it was hollow and dissembled, while loud moanings 
were indulged in, merely because it is customary. 
But the loss of a son is always regarded as a great 
calamity ; for on him devolves the duty of performing 
the funeral obsequies of his parents. 

On the 24th of October, our own dear little babe, 
aged five weeks and one day, was transferred from 
the dark land of China to the bright paradise of 
God. 

One morning, a few days ago (says my journal), 
the sun was shining with unwonted brightness, as if 
striving to counteract the effect of "shrill Novem- 
ber's surly blast " that was howling around our little 
dwelling, and I had seated myself to my Chinese 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 179 

studies with my amiable old teacher at my side, 
when in bustled three missionaries, warmly coated, 
capped and gloved. " Come, Taylor," said the fore- 
most, a robust looking man of fifty, stoutly built, but 
well proportioned, and somewhat above the middle 
height, having expressive blue eyes, that looked 
through a pair of shell-rimmed spectacles — a full, 
high forehead, and a fine head altogether, thinly 
covered with hair, whose original light brown was ren- 
dered still lighter by the frosty touch of age — it was 
the Eev. Dr. Medhurst — " Come, Taylor," said he, in 
the familiar style common to the English missionaries 
when addressing each other, " put on your great coat 
and boots — we've come to press you into service — our 
boat is all ready here just at your door, and we want 
you to go into the country with us ; we have provided 
everything, so you have nothing to do but just to 
come along." There was no resisting the hearty 
warmth of this off-hand invitation, so I ran to tell my 
wife, who of course yielded a cheerful acquiescence, 
and soon exchanging my morning gown and slippers 
for coat and boots, we set off together in his mission 
boat. The weather was a little cold, it is true, but 
then we were free from another annoyance, common 
in this low rice-field country — we had no mosquitoes ; 
and of the two discomforts, for my own part, I pre- 
fer the former. The tide had reached its lowest 
point, and was just beginning to change in our favor, 
when our four boatmen — two at a large oar in the 
stern, universally in use among the Chinese as a 
" scull," and two in front, or to speak more nauti- 
cally, "in the bow," with setting-poles, began to 
ply their task. Although so well manned, we made 



l 



180 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

but slow progress along the winding creek, whose 
banks were overgrown with tall, thick reeds ; for the 
water was still so low that most of the time we were 
obliged to force our way through the mud. The 
great number of boats we were compelled to pass 
added to the difficulty, and several times, not only 
the boatmen, but all the rest of us, found our utmost 
physical strength in requisition, and we had a good 
share of it — to effect a passage by them. We expe- 
rienced this kind of hinderance for about two miles, 
or until we were quite beyond the city, on the west- 
ern side of which, a short distance without the wall, 
the creek has its course. The tide, too, by this time, 
was "setting in" rapidly in our favor, but the wind, 
which was blowing quite fresh and strong when we 
started, was " dead ahead," as the sailors say, and 
had so increased in violence, that we could scarcely 
advance against it. So we betook ourselves to the 
bank, along which is a well-beaten path — partly to 
keep warm by the exercise, and partly to examine 
the figures of priests and animals, sculptured in 
stone, which had been set up under a former dynasty 
to guard the tombs of persons of distinguished rank. 
This region abounds in these relics of an earlier age, 
many still standing erect, while some have fallen to 
the ground. Then again we would run across the 
fields, following Dr. Medhurst, who still possesses the 
vigor and activity of his youth — toward a monu- 
mental tablet, eight feet high, by two and a half 
square, inscribed with characters which commemorate 
the virtues and honors of some departed mandarin. 
The learned veteran missionary read them with as 
much fluency and ease as if they had been written 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 181 

in his own native tongue. Some of these commemo- 
rative structures are in the form of grotesque gate- 
ways, of elaborately hewn and quaintly sculptured 
granite. They may be seen here and there, in the 
open fields, and among the crowded buildings in the 
city. 

After proceeding in this way about six miles from 
Shanghai, by the creek, though not more than four 
in a right line, the boatmen were directed to stop 
and await our return, while we walked to a village 
two miles distant, where the Doctor was to preach. 
Accompanied by one of the men to carry a large bag 
of books and tracts, which were distributed to those 
we met on the way, but more especially to the num- 
bers who crowded about us on our entrance into the 
place, and followed us through the principal street, 
till we reached the temple consecrated to the worship 
of the tutelar deity of the village. Here Dr. Med- 
hurst took his stand just in front of the idol-shrine, 
and began preaching to the people whom curiosity 
had drawn together. A man who seemed to be a 
leading character among them, very civilly placed a 
bench for him to sit upon, at the same time saying 
he must be tired from having walked so far ; then 
going away, he presently returned with large cups 
of tea for each of us, which we received and drank 
with the best grace we could, though it was far from 
being palatable. The services concluded, and the 
bag emptied, we returned to the boat. A fire was 
soon kindled in a small furnace, upon which the pre- 
viously cooked dinner was warmed, and then placed 
upon the little table, where it received ample justice 
from our sharpened appetites. It was now five o'clock, 



L 



182 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

and the boat homeward bound, but the tide had left 
us ; so leaving the boat in care of the men to bring 
on the next day, we again landed and returned on 
foot, reaching home a little after dark — another faith- 
ful testimony having been delivered to these poor 
idolaters, the word of life circulated among them, 
and our own physical strength, at least, renewed by 
the day's exercise. 

On the 25th of February, Tau-Kwang — " Reason's 
Glory," — the Emperor of China, whose portrait forms 
the frontispiece to this volume, died at the age sixty- 
nine years, and in the thirtieth of his reign. When 
speaking of his demise, only the rude and vulgar say 
he died. The literary and refined always say of the 
death of an emperor, " A Mountain has fallen." He 
was the sixth sovereign of the Ta-Tsing — "Great 
Pure," — the Manchoo or Tartar dynasty, which 
usurped the throne a little more than 200 years ago. 
In his will he designated his fourth son, titled Hien- 
foong, as his successor, whose accession to the impe- 
rial seat has been, as far as we have learned, quite 
peaceful. It is said his elder brothers were very 
clamorous on the occasion, preferring their several 
claims on the ground of seniority. But the will of 
the father was law, and the chief ministers of State 
fulfilled it. Whether this preference was founded on 
the supposed possession of superior abilities by the 
younger son, or was the result of parental partiality, 
it is not in our power to determine. At every change 
of rulers, political disturbances are feared, partly 
from the intrigues of the disappointed expectants of 
royal honors, who sometimes by skillful manoeuvring, 
enlist so strong an interest in their favor, on the part 



EXTRACTS FROM: JOURNAL. 183 

of high officers of government, as to frustrate the 
expressed desire of the emperor concerning his suc- 
cessor; and partly from the efforts of the Triad 
Society — a secret association opposed to the reigning 
dynasty, whose object is to throw off the Tartar yoke 
and reinstate the old Chinese regime. Some open 
demonstration is apprehended from them at every 
change of the administration. But the severe enac- 
tions against the society, and the terrible penalties 
visited upon all who are known to be connected 
with it, tend to keep them comparatively few in num- 
ber, and to hold them in check. 

The document proclaiming the new emperor ar- 
rived at Shanghai on the 1st of April. I went in 
company with two other missionaries to witness the 
ceremony of its reception, and hear it read. It was 
a scroll about three feet long, in a case of yellow silk, 
tied at both ends with ribbon of the same color, and 
was brought into the temple in a richly carved and 
gilded sedan, borne by four coolies. This was fol- 
lowed by all the mandarins of Shanghai — some fifteen 
or eighteen in number — attired in their court dress, 
which in shape resembles old-fashioned great-coats I 
have seen in the United States, having a long skirt 
and small cape, but with sleeves much longer and 
larger. They are made of bluish-black satin, wadded 
with cotton, lined with silk or fur, and covered with 
the richest embroidery. Their hats were adorned 
with a profusion of long, beautiful red feathers, or 
very fine floss silk — I was not near enough to deter- 
mine which — surmounted in the centre by the " but- 
ton " or knob, of blue, red, or white precious stone, 
or of brass, according to the rank of the wearer. 



L 



184 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

The blue indicating the highest, and the brass the 
lowest. Of the former there was but one present, 
and he was also distinguished from the others by 
wearing a peacock's feather in his cap — a privilege 
granted to none of inferior grade. I have been in- 
formed that this individual did not attain his rank 
through the usual course of literary examinations, 
but purchased his " button " or rank for the snug sum 
of thirty thousand dollars. He was long known to 
our countrymen at Canton as an extensive and suc- 
cessful tea merchant, by the name of Sain-Qua. He 
is the highest officer in the department of Soong- 
Kiang, with the official title — Tau-tai. Shanghai is 
only a district in this department. 

As the sedan containing the proclamation was set 
down in an open court of the temple, the mandarins 
all kneeled on cushions in four rows, with their faces 
toward it, while one of their number took the docu- 
ment from its place, and kneeling on the steps that 
led to the imperial shrine, carried and put it on two 
forked rests before a tablet, inscribed in gilt charac- 
ters, with a sentence equivalent to " long live the Em- 
peror." Literally translated, it reads, " Imperial 
Ruler, myriad years, myriad years, myriad, myriad 
years." Then, at the calling out of a herald, the 
mandarins slowly and reverently bowed their heads 
to the pavement nine times. They still remained on 
their knees, while the same one took the paper from 
its place at the shrine, where incense sticks had been 
all the time burning before it, and carrying it to a 
table elevated one step from the brick pavement, and 
a little to one side of the altar, read it aloud to the 
assembled multitude. "When he had finished, he re- 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 185 

placed it before the tablet, the mandarins again 
"knocked head" — as the native term signifies — nine 
times, as before, then rising from their knees retired, 
and the multitude dispersed. 

The various badges and ceremonies of mourning, 
ordered upon the death of the empress dowager, and 
shortly after, of the emperor himself, were now laid 
aside. Besides the prohibition from shaving the head 
for a hundred days, the public officers had been daily 
r to some of the temples, in long white robes, and 
made loud lamentations for the dead, and this they 
still continue once in seven days. 

There is much beauty and tenderness in the com- 
munication of the former emperor to his cabinet, 
announcing the death of his step-mother. He says, 
"We have attended her majesty since we received 
the throne, and have cherished her for twenty-nine 
years. "We have seen that in her declining days she 
had every comfort, and that she had passed the age 
of eighty, for which our heart was happy and calm, 
and we encouraged ourself that she would happily 
add one year to another, until she enjoyed the felicity 
of seeing a century. Lately, on the nineteenth day 
of the moon, she took an airing in the garden and 
returned to her palace. We daily went to inquire 
concerning her health, and then unexpectedly became 
aware that our beloved relative was not in her usual 
vigor. We thought that if she was nursed a few days 
with care, she would then recover her health. But 
contrary to all our anticipations, her ailments daily 
increased in violence, and on the twenty-fourth, in the 
middle of the afternoon, she drove the fairy chariot 
and went the long journey. Our grief broke out in 



186 FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

loud lamentations, for we were greatly afflicted. We 
humbly brought to mind that since the Holy Em- 
press, ■ Filial — Pure — Bright ' (his own mother), left 
this world to take the upward journey, we have been 
greatly indebted to her Imperial Majesty, Ta-hing, 
for her abounding kindness, and overshadowing 
favor. We have been made happy while attending 
to her behests, as men are rejoiced by the sun which 
prolongs their lives; but now we can never again 
look upon her affectionate countenance. Our grief 
cannot easily be assuaged." 



CHAPTEE XY. 

EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 

Building our Houses — Chapels— Schools — Birds — Tracts — Catechism 
— Medical Practice — Book Distribution — Conversation with an Idol- 
ater — A Sunday's Work — A Day in my Chapel — Synopsis of a Tract 
— Another Sunday — An Accident and Death — Removal of a Tumor 
from a Man's Nose — The " Tea-Gardens " — A Trip into the Country 
— A Crooked Stream — Mode of Planting Cotton — Preaching — A 
Wheelbarrow Ride. 

April 1, 1850. — For some months past, our houses 
have necessarily occupied the greater part of our 
time. For, as the native workmen are unacquainted 
with our mode of building, they require supervision 
and direction at every step. We did not design, in 
coming to China, to become architects, carpenters 
and masons, but the circumstances into which we 
have been thrown, have compelled us to act as 
such for the last few months — little as we know of 
these handicrafts. Our chief dependence for plans 
has been the recollection of the manner of building, 
and the general appearance of dwelling-houses in 
the United States. Such knowledge was at best but 
very scanty, yet our success has exceeded our expec- 
tations, and we have two commodious mission-houses 
nearly completed. Early in the year I purchased a 
small lot adjoining my former purchase, for fifty 



188 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

dollars, and upon this built a chapel which will seat 
a hundred and fifty Chinese. A congregation of this 
number is the largest that we could reasonably ex- 
pect ever to obtain at my residence outside the city, 
as it is on one of the many paths leading to the north 
gate. It therefore seemed wiser to adapt my chapel 
to the probable size of my largest congregation, than 
to build a large house and never see it half filled. 
It might, perhaps, more properly be called an oratory, 
where 1 can go and hold a service at any hour of the 
day. The second story piazza of my house commands 
a view of the path for a quarter of a mile, and when 
I see a goodly number approaching, I go down, and 
opening the door of my little chapel, invite them to 
come in for a few minutes and listen to the " Jesus 
doctrines." Thus do I spread my net and fish for 
men. It is now three months since my first exercise 
in it, and I have had some very interesting services. 
In the absence of a large chapel within the city, I 
preach every Sunday in some of the other churches, 
either to supply the place of some of our missionary 
brethren who may be ill, or taking part in their ser- 
vices when they are present, and also frequently ad- 
dress large crowds at places of public resort in the 
open air. On all these occasions a good deal of in- 
terest is manifest in many countenances, though in 
estimating the amount of real interest on the subject, 
much allowance must be made for what is mere 
curiosity. 

The two schools established last year are in a pros- 
perous condition, though the attendance of the child- 
ren has been more or less interrupted by sickness — 
principally smallpox. They are making very en- 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 189 

couraging progress in the acquisition of religious 
truth. Both teachers and scholars assemble every 
Sunday in my chapel, when I catechise them, and 
explain to them the meaning and importance of the 
truths they learn. Quite a number of them can 
repeat, with great readiness, the Ten Command- 
ments, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and a simple 
Catechism which I prepared for them in the local 
dialect. 

April 18. — After several days of mist, and rain, 
and clouds, the sun shines upon us again with all his 
wonted splendor, and we are enjoying one of the 
brightest of the many bright mornings in this sunny, 
yet dark, dark land. The glittering rain-drops still 
linger on the leaves of the willows and bamboos 
around us, and we hear the merry chirping of the 
sparrows, and the scratching of their tiny claws on 
the roof over our heads, as they build their nests be- 
neath the tiles. I don't know how much, but we 
certainly owe something to these sweet birds, whose 
blithe warbling so often cheers our hearts. "We pay 
them in daily installments of crumbs and rice, and 
whether or not they deem the remuneration sufficient, 
they seem content to abide with us, and go on with 
their singing. When they come about the door, our 
little boy jumps up and down, clapping his hands 
and screaming with delight. I often wonder that 
his boisterous demonstrations don't frighten them 
away altogether, but perhaps they recognize a kin- 
dred spirit in his innocent glee. Thanks to our 
Heavenly Father for the little birds. They are not 
beneath his notice, and they should not be beneath 
ours. 



190 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

A man who has been importuning me for a long 
time to go and look at a buillfeng' site $xr a chapel 
within the city walls, called again ftiis morning on 
the same errand. I went with him and examined 
two locations, both of which are quite eligible, being 
in very populous streets. Carried a handful of tracts 
with me and distributed to such as I found, by in- 
quiry, were able to read. Bread cast upon the 
waters. May the Eye that never sleeps watch it and 
gather it after many days. The tracts contain the 
Ten Commandments, the Apostle's Creed, the Lord's 
Prayer, a long metre doxology, embodying the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, and a calendar showing the Sun- 
days for the present year, according to Chinese time. 
I have just published an edition of six thousand of 
them. Each tract has on the cover, directions to my 
chapel, which I have named, " Foh-ying Dong " 
" Good-Tidings Hall,'' or, in another phrase, " Gospel 
Hall." 

April 19. — Have been engaged to-day in prepar- 
ing a more complete catechism in the Shanghai dia- 
lect, for the use of the children in my schools, anti 
have also had five or six applications for medical 
relief. This is about the average number of new 
cases daily. The great majority for several months 
past, have been of intermittent fever, and the form 
of an application for medicine generally runs thus : 
" Taylor, teacher, thanks, thanks to you, may I trou- 
ble your heart, I wish a little fever and ague medi- 
cine." I sometimes ask them, " Why do you wish 
my medicine ? have you not remedies here?" " Yes, 
but your medicine is exceedingly good ; compared 
with our native medicines, it is far better." " How 



EXTRA, 



CTS FEOM JOUKNAL. 191 

did you know I have medicines ?" " My neighbor 
was sick and carhe #nd ate your medicine, and is 
now well ; so I will trouble your heart to give me a 
little." 

April 20. — Went into the city this afternoon, ac- 
companied by my teacher, Loo Seen-Sang, taking a 
number of tracts with me. Soon disposed of them, 
and regretted I had not taken many more. The 
crowd we meet is so great that it is neither practica- 
ble nor prudent to give a tract to every one, for the 
probability is, that not more than one in ten can read, 
so we must exercise what little skill in physiognomy 
we possess, and confine our favors to those whose 
countenances bespeak sufficient intelligence to appre- 
ciate them. They are generally received with a 
respectful bow and many thanks, while the face 
beams with smiles of gratification. Here comes a man 
of wealth, borne in a sedan by two coolies. I put a 
tract in his hand as he passes, and he takes it with 
tokens of evident pleasure. A little further on, and 
we meet one of the very opposite condition in life, 
resting himself by his burden, which lies on the 
ground near him, and he extends his hands eagerly 
for a book. " Can you read ?" " No, but there is a 
neighbor of mine who can, and I will get him to read 
it for me." " By all means you shall have one." We 
still pass on, and enter the principal temple in the 
city ; see an intelligent-looking, well-dressed man 
standing near, and give him a tract. He receives it 
with cool civility, and we walk on toward the large 
idol, and guardian divinity of Shanghai. Presently 
this man comes along and kneels before the gilded 
image, bowing his head several times very reverently. 



L. 



192 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

As he rises to go away, I observe to him, " It is very- 
wrong to worship that stupid block of wood." " No, 
it is right ; it is very good to worship it." " But look 
at it ; it cannot see with its eyes, nor hear with its 
ears, nor speak with its mouth ; it cannot move its 
hands, nor can it walk with its feet." " Oh, it is a 
very great god, and can understand, and do many 
things." " No, you are mistaken ; it is just as sense- 
less as this wooden post, and was perhaps made of 
the same tree, one man taking the best part to make 
the pillars of this temple, and another the root that 
was good for nothing else, and carving out that ugly 
idol. You ought to worship the only living and true 
God, that made the world." 

The conversation proceeded something after this 
manner, as well as we could understand each other 
(for he was a man from the Fok-hien province, where 
the dialect is very different from that spoken here), 
until at last he said : " But you foreigners bring 
opium here, that is destroying our people, and how 
can you be good men ; how can your doctrines be 
good, when you who believe them bring this dreadful 
poison here to kill us, for the sake of gain ?" This 
reproach is cast in our teeth daily, and we feel it 
keenly ; but when we unite with them in strong dis- 
approval of the introduction and use of this ruinous 
drug, and assure them that we are engaged in no 
traffic of any kind, but left our homes, far away in the 
" Flowery Flag Country " — the name they have given 
to America, from the gay appearance of the stars and 
stripes — for the sole purpose of making known to 
them the true God, and the way of salvation through 
Jesus Christ, they soon learn to draw a line of dis- 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 193 

tinction between us and other foreigners. This was 
the case in the present instance, and the man, from 
seeming highly offended with me at first for decrying 
his gods, took my hand most cordially in both his 
own, inquired my name, age, and residence, and 
promised to call and talk these doctrines over with 
me more at length, as I had begged him to do. After 
once more urging him to read and carefully consider 
the contents of the tract, we parted. This was a case 
of unusual interest to me, and I felt more encouraged 
concerning him, from the very fact of his so strenu- 
ously defending his religion, than I do of scores whom 
I meet every day who will admit everything said to 
them, without raising a single objection. He was so 
honest and earnest in his misbelief, that if he could 
be fully enlightened on the subject of Christianity, I 
doubt not he would see the folly of his own supersti- 
tious creed, and become equally zealous and sincere 
in espousing the doctrines of the Gospel. 

April 21, Sunday. — At half-past nine this morning, 
we attended the regular weekly service in English, 
conducted by the six missionaries of the London Mis- 
sionary Society.' They have desired us, together with 
our Baptist brethren, to take our turns in preaching 
with themselves, in the alphabetical order of our 
names, on a list of eleven. This service concluded, 
Dr. Medhurst preached in Chinese on the resurrection 
of Christ, and administered the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper to four native church members. After 
this, I went to the large new church, recently built 
by the Missionaries of the Southern Baptist Board, 
and heard the Kev. J. L. Shuck, also in the native 
dialect ; I acted at the same time as " door-keeper in 

9 



L. 



194: FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

the house of the Lord," and found it " better than to 
dwell in the tents of wickedness." A door-keeper is 
often necessary for the purpose of inviting the passers- 
by to come in, and to persuade thein to remain, 
when once inside, till the conclusion of the sermon. 
I then returned home, took an early dinner, and 
opened the door of my little chapel for service. Both 
my schools with their two teachers, Wong and Tsang, 
soon came in, and many of the neighbors assembled, 
so that with them and the casual passers-by, the place 
was well filled. My first exercise was the examina- 
tion of the children in the presence of the congrega- 
tion. I then addressed the assembly, and concluded 
with prayer, after which, turned my steps toward the 
city again, to the London Mission chapel, and was 
invited to preach by the missionary of that society, 
whose duty it w r as to hold the service. When I had 
finished, I listened to another sermon by him, which 
was' my only design in going to the place, for I find 
this the very best means of learning myself how 
to preach in the language of the natives. Then pro- 
ceeding a second time to the Baptist Mission chapel, 
for the same end, and heard Mr. Shuck again, while 
I endeavored to make myself useful in the same hon- 
orable capacity in which I had acted in the morning. 
From this, went to the first chapel opened by the 
brethren of this Board, where they continue to hold 
regular services, and heard a sermon from the Eev. 
M. T. Yates, after which I returned home, opened the 
door of my own little chapel once more, and preached 
to a house full. Among them were two Buddhist 
priests and one Buddhist nun, all having their heads 
entirely shorn, and wearing apparel alike. The folly 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 195 

and wickedness of idolatry formed a part of my dis- 
course, as usual, and at the conclusion, one of the 
priests told me that what I had been saying was true, 
and that it was useless to worship idols. I then ex- 
horted him to abandon them and believe in Jesus, 
who only could save his soul. Oh will he do it ? Or 
will the words of truth be heard, and the little tract 
I gave him rise up in the day of judgment and con- 
demn him ? 

Thus ended the labors of one of my Sabbaths in 
Shanghai, and it is a fair specimen of the whole 
Glorious privilege ! Happy, thrice happy is my lot, 

"if with my latest breath, 



I may but gasp his name, 

Preach Him to all, and cry in death, 
Behold ! behold the Lamb !" 

April 24. — Have transferred my study to my 
chapel for the last two or three days. A table stands 
before the pulpit, and I am seated at it with my 
teacher. The door is open on the path passing along 
in front, and only three feet distant from it, so that 
many who pass along step in from curiosity. Thus 
is an opportunity found to say a word to them, and 
present a tract to all who can read. Sometimes one 
after another comes in and sits down near the table, 
until a dozen or so have assembled, and then I step 
up into the pulpit and preach to them. This occurred 
to-day, and the number increased to twenty or more 
before I finished. All listened attentively, and some 
with much apparent interest. This plan subjects me 
to more interruption in my studies, than I experienced 
in the quiet little room in our dwelling, but I am per- 



U 



196 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

suaded that it also affords me a tenfold greater oppor- 
tunity for disseminating the truths of the Gospel, and 
as this is the great object for which I was sent here, 
I am willing to submit to the inconvenience, for the 
sake of immediate usefulness. I may here speak a 
word in season to many souls whom I might never 
meet again, should I shut myself up in my study till 
I acquire a competent knowledge of the written 
character. But as an indemnity for what I may lose 
in the study of the written, this constant intercourse 
with the people, affords increased advantages for the 
acquisition of the spoken language. And this with 
me, takes the precedence in point of present relative 
importance. 

April 26. — The incessant heavy rain has given me 
a whole day for uninterrupted study, and I occupied 
it in preparing another tract for publication, on the 
way to save the soul. It is entitled, " Tau le,pih 
toh" — " Important doctrines — By all means reaolP 
The value of the soul is first asserted, and the conse- 
quent importance of attending to its interests. Then 
follows a brief account of the creation, fall of our 
first parents, involving the whole human family in 
sin, and temporal and eternal death. The compas- 
sion of God for our race is next brought to view, as 
displayed in the gift of his only begotten Son Jesus 
Christ, to suffer and die in our stead. Then follow 
the circumstances of his life, death, resurrection and 
ascension. He is represented as ever living at the 
right hand of God as our intercessor and advocate. 
The utter destitution of merit on the part of man, is 
then stated, and yet the perfect willingness of God 
to pardon and save all who repent of their sins, and 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 197 

rely alone on the merit of Jesus for salvation. The 
final blessedness of the righteous and the eternal 
misery of the unbelieving, follow next, together with 
an exposition of the folly and sinfulness of idolatry 
and the insufficiency of the system of Confucius. It 
closes with a direct appeal to the reader, and a form 
of prayer for his use, supposing him penitent and de- 
siring to come to a knowledge of the truth. I have 
breathed many a prayer for the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit during the preparation of this little tract, and 
trust it will go forth with the divine blessing. 

April 28. — Another Sabbath of hard and happy 
work. Have heard three sermons from others, and 
preached three myself. The last service in my 
chapel late in the afternoon, was unusually interest- 
ing. It reminded me forcibly of meetings I have 
often held in my native land, especially among the 
negroes. All eyes were intent upon me, and in 
several, I thought I saw a glistening tear. If this 
was not the case, an absorbing interest gave them at 
least an unusual brightness. From some women 
near the pulpit I could hear suppressed groans, while 
from other persons in the congregation expressions 
signifying— " Yes,"— " It is so"— "It is true"— 
"Every particle correct" — "Good" — "Excellent" 
— and many were constantly nodding assent to what 
I was saying. What was the cause of it ? Was it 
indeed interest in the truth, or was it the result of 
mere curiosity excited by the strangeness of new 
doctrines. I would fain persuade myself of the 
former, but it may have been only the latter. I 
never before have had such freedom of utterance in 
declaring the Gospel to these benighted heathen in 



198 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

their own native language. Of one thing I am cer- 
tain — they heard some of the most prominent truths 
of the Bible, and gave evidence that they understood 
them. It only remains for me to commend them in 
earnest prayer to the Holy Spirit, that he may bring 
to maturity the seed thus sown. 

April 29. — Last Saturday, a poor man who had 
fallen from the bridge into the creek, which passes 
my house, and had been rescued from drowning by 
some boatmen, found his way to within a few feet of 
my chapel door, whether by himself or some assist- 
ance, I cannot tell, but there he lay shivering and 
exhausted. I at first had him placed where the sun 
could shine upon him, for it was a warm, bright day, 
and not long after, having procured a change of dry 
clothing for him, brought him within my inclosure, 
gave him some warm tea, and rice boiled to congee, 
after which, in a few minutes, he seemed quite com- 
fortable. He slept that night under a shelter where 
some of the men who are at work upon my house 
are in the habit of sleeping. The next morning he 
seemed still stronger, and during the day lay about 
the yard wherever he could find a sunny place. He 
was well fed too, said he thought he should be quite 
well to-day, and went to sleep where he had done the 
night before, in company with one of the workmen. 
But this morning he was stiff and cold in death. He 
is now in his coffin, ready to be carried away to- 
morrow. 

A man whom I observed in the congregation yes- 
terday, having a tumor upon his nose, which sadly 
disfigured his face, came to me this morning, upon 
my promise to try and relieve him. He came, and 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 199 

it was successfully removed with the knife. He is a 
man in easy circumstances, and resides at Soong- 
Kiang, a large city about forty miles west from 
Shanghai. He came here on a visit to a relative, and 
strayed into the house of God, where his singular 
appearance attracted my notice. He is highly 
pleased with the improvement his face has under- 
gone. The number and variety of other applications 
for medical aid, has been so great to-day as to afford 
me scarce a moment's time for study. Oh that they 
were as eager to be rid of the deformities of sin and 
the diseases of the soul ! 

May 5. — On yesterday (Sunday), at half-past nine, 
I preached in English, and administered the Sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper in the chapel of the Lon- 
don Missionary Society. Afterward, had four public 
exercises in Chinese. One of the latter was in the 
court of the large temple of the " city's guardian " — 
the idol to whom the greatest amount of blind ado- 
ration is offered by the deluded people living in 
Shanghai. This locality is called by foreigners the 
" Tea-Gardens." It covers several acres, and is filled 
with pools, zig-zag bridges, artificial rock- work, gro- 
tesque buildings and fancy shops. There were a 
dozen gambling tables in different parts of this open 
court, thronged with persons of all ages, bent on im- 
proving their slender fortunes by throwing dice. 
Besides these, were several other catchpenny contri- 
vances, jugglers, showmen, quack-doctors, fortune- 
tellers, and the like, calling out lustily to those passing 
to and fro, and extolling the advantages certainly ac- 
cruing to all who would venture a few copper cash 
for a trial. I mounted a stone railing two feet high, 



L . 



200 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

near the large entrance to the main building, and 
commenced preaching. The crowds at the gambling 
tables soon nocked around the more novel spectacle 
of a foreigner addressing them in their own dialect — 
the tables in the immediate vicinity were entirely 
deserted, and their business was broken up for the 
time, though it was probably soon resumed after the 
stranger had finished his harangue and departed. I 
had a large and attentive audience, and continued 
preaching to them till I became so hoarse that it was 
with difficulty those a little distance off could hear 
me, and then ceased. 

May 9th. — Accompanied Dr. Medhurst and the 
Rev. Wm. Mnirhead on a short trip in their mission 
boat to a small town, called Kiang Wan, about five 
miles distant from Shanghai. The day was fine, and 
taking the tide as it began to " set in " in our favor, 
we passed down the Hwang-poo River, in front of the 
foreign mercantile establishments, and entered a small 
creek just at the residence of Bishop Boone. Our 
general course was northerly, but in " making" it, as 
the sailors say, we steered to every point of the com- 
pass — so winding was the stream. It was quite like 
many of the rivers in the low country of the southern 
States, where you may pole a boat or a raft the whole 
day, and then go on shore and camp around the still 
burning pine-knots of the last night's fire, when you 
have actually travelled by water twenty or thirty 
miles. The whole face of the country, as far as the 
eye can reach, presents a waving sea of wheat and 
rye .fields. These crops are this year very abundant, 
and they are now just beginning to exchange their 
green for a golden hue. Occasionally we see small 



L 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 201 

portions of ground that have already yielded a boun- 
tiful supply of spring vegetables, again prepared 
and planted with cotton. The mode of sowing the 
seed of this plant differs from that adopted in those 
sections of the United States where I have seen it 
growing. Instead of a ridge, the Chinese throw up 
a bed about six feet wide. They do not " drill " at 
all, but sow broadcast. Nor do they cover the seed 
as we do ; but tramp over every inch of the beds 
with their bare feet. This is done with such regular- 
ity, that their tracks give the surface of the ground 
the appearance of a piece of knitting on a large scale, 
wrought with the " herring-bone stitch." I have 
never yet seen the stalk here more than two feet 
high, and the bolls are small in proportion. They 
" thin it out " after it comes up, by hoeing out the 
sprouts where they are found growing too thickly to 
thrive, and they weed it in the same way. Nothing 
we see reminds us so strongly of home, as the men, 
women and children picking cotton in the fall. But 
all this is quite a digression ; setting out in a boat, I 
have unexpectedly landed in a cotton field ; let me 
get back to the boat again. 

We were propelled by two men " sculling " with a 
large oar in the stern, while a third handled his 
setting-pole no less dexterously on the bow. But 
even thus well manned, we can only navigate in the 
water, not in mud. So, as the creek has become 
shallow, and the boat is aground, we will jump into 
a smaller one that is just passing our own. Two of 
the men accompanying us, take charge of a large bag 
of tracts and books, and we leave one in charge of 
the boat. We soon reach Kiang-Wan, on the north 

9* 



202 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

bank of the creek, and after paying a few copper 
cash, for the last mile or two of our trip in the small 
boat, go on shore, and proceed toward one of the 
temples, distributing tracts and books to those who 
begin to crowd around us, both natives of the place, 
and persons from the surrounding country, who have 
come in to burn incense-sticks, wax candles, and gilt 
paper before the idols, in honor of the wife of the 
guardian deity of the town. This, they say, is her 
birth-day, and they assemble annually to celebrate it, 
on the twenty-eighth day of the third month. 

Having arrived at the temple, Dr. Medhurst bor- 
rowed a small wooden bench of a gambler sitting 
near, mounted upon it, and addressed the people. 
Mr. Muirhead followed him, and then we went to- 
ward a temple in another direction. The crowd had 
by this time become so numerous, that it was with 
difficulty we could get along in the narrow streets, 
and so eager were they for books, that they often 
seized them in our hands, and it required some exer- 
cise of strength to prevent their taking whole hand- 
fuls from us at a time. We soon came to the largest 
temple in the place. Here was a gilt image of 
Buddha, twelve or fourteen feet high, in a sitting pos- 
ture, occupying the centre of the building, while 
many others, representing his attendants, stood 
around the sides. These were all heavily gilt, some- 
thing larger than the human figure, and mostly had 
fierce countenances, while the face of Buddha himself 
always wears a placid expression of imperturbable 
composure* Standing in the portico of this temple, 
about three feet higher than the open space in front, 
which was crowded with people, Dr. Medhurst and 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 203 

Mr. Muirhead again preached, and I followed them — 
the multitude all the time listening attentively, with- 
out appearing in the least fatigued. Going out into 
the streets again, which were nearly impassable, from 
the immense numbers thronging them, we distributed 
the remainder of our tracts, and coming to the out- 
skirts of the town, tried to get a boat to return to our 
own. Failing in this, Dr. M. thought it imprudent 
to walk so far under a scorching sun at midday, and 
sent for two men with wheelbarrows. 

The Chinese wheelbarrow is a strong frame six feet 
long, a foot and a half wide at the smaller extremity, 
and three feet and a half at the handles. The wheel 
is about three feet in diameter, is placed nearly in the 
centre of the frame, above which it projects a foot, 
and is covered by a higher frame-work which pre- 
vents the lading from contact with it. This useful 
article presents an odd appearance to the eye of a 
foreigner, but it has two prominent advantages over 
the wheelbarrows in America. First, the position of 
the wheel being nearly in the centre of gravity, 
enables a man to transport a much heavier load with 
a far less expenditure of strength ; and secondly, the 
large size of the wheel facilitates his progress. Now 
just fancy you see Dr. Medhurst and myself seated 
on one of these vehicles ; him on the right and me on 
the left, of the wheel, with one arm resting on the 
frame over it, and holding an umbrella between us. 
Our companion had the other entirely to himself. 
On we trundle, making ourselves very merry at the 
singular figure we should present in England or 
America. The path is, for the most part, smooth, 
but occasionally is so far the reverse that we give a 



204 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

fair personification of persons in an ague-fit. We 
also now and then speculate on the probable conse- 
quences to ourselves, in case the wheel should run 
off a single, long, narrow stone which forms the bridge 
over a ditch we are crossing. Notwithstanding all, 
we soon reach our boat in safety, give the men their 
well-earned cash, and are now " homeward bound." 
The shaking and jolting we have had, has given our 
appetites a keen edge for a cold lunch of roast beef 
and bread. This is scarcely finished before we find 
ourselves aground again, for the tide has left us, and 
we have no other resort but to make the best of our 
way on foot back to Shanghai. As we are all accus- 
tomed to this primitive mode of travelling, it is no 
hardship to us. Soon the masts of the foreign ship- 
ping appear above the trees, and in a little time longer 
we reach our homes in safety, just before sunset. 



CHAPTER XYL 

CHINESE LANGUAGE — SCHOOLS — INVENTIONS — ODDITIES. 

Character of the Language— Number of Characters — Radicals — Illus- 
tration — Native Dictionaries — " Four Books " of Confucius — Other 
Classics and Writers — Literature — Spoken Dialects — " Pidjin-Eng- 
lish " — Schools — Singular Mode of Studying and Reciting — School 
Text-Books — Manner of Writing — Of Book-Making — Printing — 
Gunpowder — Mariners' Compass — Chinese History — Their Ideas of 
other Countries — A Native " Map of the World " — Amusing Ab- 
surdities — Arithmetic — Book-Keeping — Literary Degrees — Corrup- 
tion — Filial Respect — Seat of Intelligence — "Peking Gazette" — 
Postal Arrangement — Mode of Reckoning Time — u Time-Sticks." 

The language of China is no less unique than al- 
most everything else pertaining to that country. 
There is no other like it among the languages of earth. 
The nearest approach to it is the hieroglyphical of the 
ancient Egyptians, to which some learned and curious 
philologists have traced in the Chinese certain singu- 
lar resemblances, as well as between these two nations 
in some other particulars, so as to lead them to the 
conclusion that at some period in remote antiquity 
the two were one people ! 

The Chinese language consists of 44,000 different 
characters, each one being a complete word, and hav- 
ing its own separate name and signification, and yet it 
is sadly deficient in the terms necessary to define the 
doctrines of the Bible. It has no alphabet. There are, 



L 



206 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

however, 214 radicals, or key-characters, some one, at 
least, of which forms a part of every other character, 
in the whole number. They are all so well arranged 
under these radicals, by the native lexicographers, that 
any word in the language can be found in a few minutes 
in their dictionaries, with its name and full meaning. 
I do not know that any clearer conception can be 
imparted than to imagine our alphabet to be in- 
creased to forty thousand characters, each one having 
not only its own sound, but also conveying a distinct 
idea. Suppose, then, for example, that A means 
house, that B means fire, that C means table, D, chair 
— E, wood — F, truth, and so on through all the thou- 
sands. Herein consists the immense difficulty in the 
acquisition of the Chinese written language. It 
makes such a tremendous demand upon the memory 
to commit and retain a sufficient number of these 
characters to enable you to read the native books. 
Confucius employed in his writings, comprised in the 
" Four Books," less than five thousand ; and as these 
are the standard school-books throughout the empire? 
those five thousand are more generally known than 
any of the rest. Still there are other classics, in 
which others occur, which must also be learned by 
the pupil, if he wishes to pursue his reading beyond 
the ordinary schoolboy limit. For here let me state, 
that it is surpassed in the abundance of its literature 
by no language in the world. It has historians, 
philosophers, poets, essayists, naturalists, novelists, 
and dramatists, without number. A knowledge of 
an additional five thousand characters will enable 
you to read many of these. The translation of the 
Holy Scriptures in that language contains about this 



CHINESE LANGUAGE. 207 

number, 10,000. The Imperial Catalogue alone, of 
these productions, is in itself a work of one hundred 
and twelve octavo volumes, each containing about 
three hundred pages. 

There is no Chinese scholar living who knows all 
the characters in his own language. The most learned 
will sometimes — especially if he be reading an un- 
common book — meet with a character the name of 
which he can no more tell than you can ; but he sees 
which one of the two hundred and fourteen radicals 
enters into its composition ; he then resorts to the list 
of words arranged under that radical in his dictionary 
— the order being according to the number of 
strokes of the pencil required to form them — from 
one, besides the radical, up to above twenty. There 
he finds both the name of the character indicated — 
by means of others with which he is familiar — and 
the definition. 

The spoken language is different, and much more 
easily acquired. It is divided into very numerous 
local dialects— some of them so diverse that a man 
from one province is often as utterly unable to under- 
stand one from another, as an American is a French- 
man whose language he has never learned ; while, at 
the same time, they both can read the same books, 
and communicate with perfect ease by writing. The 
court dialect, however, or mandarin, as it is called by 
foreigners — being the official language of the realm — 
is spoken by all the officers, and many others, through- 
out the empire. 

At Canton an abominable jargon has sprung up 
from the efforts of some of the natives to learn our 
language. It is called "pidjin English" — "pidjin" 



208 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

being their pronunciation of the word "business." 
It is in general use at all the ports ; but so uncouth 
and barbarous is it, that to learn to use it readily is 
almost as difficult as to acquire the true dialect itself. 
To give a few examples : On our arrival at Hong- 
Kong, having occasion to call at the residence of one 
of our countrymen, I asked the native servant who 

came to the door if Mr. was at home. " Yes, 

sir, top side have got." Not comprehending his 
reply, I repeated the question. " Yes, sir — yes, sir," 
said he, " top side have got ;" at the same time point- 
ing upward. I then understood that he meant up- 
stairs. Nearly all the native boats and junks have 
large eyes painted on their bows. I inquired of one 
who professed to speak English what was the design. 
Said he : " S'pose no have catchee eye, how fashion 
can see, wanchee walkee water ?" That is, suppose it 
has no eyes, how can it see to walk on the water? On 
asking one when a certain ship would sail, he said : 
"I tink two tree piece day dat ship can w T alkee." 
When he would tell you that he does not understand 
any particular matter or business, it will be, * Me no 
savvee dat pidjin." One came to his employer on a 
certain occasion to ask permission to go and perform 
the funeral rites for his father, who had just died. 
The request ran in this wise : " My one piece olo 
fader have makee catchee die ; my wanchee go do 
dat coffin pidjin all proper." They are remarkably 
fond of having articles in pairs. Seeing one wearing 
two watches, one in each breast pocket, on the out- 
side of his coat, with the chains dangling, I asked 
why he wore more than one. His answer was: 
" S'posee one piece catchee sickee, no can talkee, dat 



SCHOOLS. 209 

udder piece can talkee." One, announcing the birth 
of a female infant, and not knowing the proper term 
in English, said : " My one piece wifo have catchee 
one piece number one pretty cow-chilo." 

Schools are numerous, mostly private. A man 
either hires a room, or appropriates one in his 
own house for the purpose. He then goes out and 
solicits his neighbors to send their boys. Girls are 
rarely taught to read, though if the teacher himself 
have daughters, you may occasionally see them in 
this schoolroom learning with the boys, simply 
because it is convenient and costs him nothing. 
There seems to be no special objection to it, except 
the expense ; but it is not regarded as at all impor- 
tant. In the families of the wealthy, who generally 
employ a private teacher, the girls are often allowed 
to study with the boys. 

The schoolroom is furnished with narrow tables 
around the sides, placed with one end to the wall, 
like those often seen in eating-houses in this country. 
Two boys sit on stools at each side, facing each other, 
with their books lying open before them on the table. 
At the further end of the apartment, is the table of 
the teacher, on which is a tablet inscribed with the 
name of Confucius, and over it, against the wall, 
hangs a picture representing the god of literature, 
before which the pupils, individually, bow as they 
■ come into the school, in the morning. They all study 
aloud — at the very top of the voice, and accompa- 
nied by an incessant and violent swaying of the 
body to and fro, creating such a confusion of sounds 
as one would think, must effectually preclude the 
possibility of learning ; but such is the force of habit, 



L 



210 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

that they can acquire their lessons far more easily in 
this manner, than if required to study silently. 
When a boy is ready to recite, the teacher calls him 
up and asks, " can you back the book ?" This expres- 
sion is the equivalent of " can you repeat your les- 
son?" Then the pupil turns his back to the teacher 
and rattles off, with the greatest rapidity of utterance 
and swing of body, the words or characters he has 
committed to memory, often without knowing their 
signification. When he has thus learned a thousand 
or more, the meaning is explained by the teacher. 
The whole system of education is little else than an 
exercise of the memory. Many school-boys of fifteen 
or sixteen can repeat the whole " four books " of 
Confucius besides several minor works, such as the 
" Hundred family names," the " Three character 
classic " and the " Thousand character classic." Wri- 
ting is also taught — the pupil beginning soon after 
his first attempt in committing the names of the 
characters. The former process indeed, greatly faci- 
litates the latter. The effort to trace the characters 
with the pencil assisting to fix them in the mind. 
The pen or pencil, is a delicately pointed brush, of 
fine hairs, which is held in a vertical position. The 
ink, is that so well known as " India ink," and is 
there prepared for writing, exactly as it is here for 
painting — by grinding or rubbing it with a little 
water on a smooth stone. In their books the leaves 
are folded double, the fold being on the outer edge, 
not designed to be cut, as they are printed only on 
one side. They are never bound, but only stitched 
in thin paper covers like our pamphlets. Works 
comprising several volumes are carried in cases of 



INVENTIONS. 211 

thick pasteboard covered with cloth. You begin at 
what would be to us, the end of the book, and read 
from right to left in perpendicular columns. 

Printing is an exceedingly simple process, per- 
formed entirely without machinery. One of these 
double pages of characters is neatly written on thin 
paper which is then so applied to a perfectly smooth 
piece of fine-grained wood, as to leave in ink, a dis- 
tinct impression of the characters on its surface. 
These characters are then carefully followed by the 
letter cutter, who removes to a sufficient depth, with 
his sharp and minute chisels and gouges — all the 
wood not covered with the ink. This then becomes 
a wooden stereotype plate, which is inked on its letter 
surface by means of a ball of cotton covered with 
cloth or leather. A sheet of moistened paper is 
taken from a pile, and when laid upon the plate, is 
pressed by a brush or a piece of cloth being passed 
lightly over it with the hand. The sheet is then 
taken off and the operation finished. 

The three great inventions that have exerted a 
stronger influence than any other in the civilization of 
mankind — the art of Printing, Gunpowder and the 
Mariner's Compass — all claimed by Europe, and as 
comparatively of modern date, besides many other 
useful arts — were known and in universal use by the 
Chinese, while nearly all Europe was as yet a wilder- 
ness of savage barbarians. 

Paper was invented in China, in the year of our 
Lord 95. The mariner's compass was first mentioned 
a.d. 121. Printing was invented, a.d. 950. The 
date of the invention of gunpowder is not known, 
but there is abundant reason to believe it was equally 



212 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

ancient. As Marco Polo, the Italian traveller, visited 
China a.d. 1274, there is but little doubt that he 
took the knowledge of the magnetic needle back 
with him to Europe, and the invention was claimed, 
not long after by Italy. 

Chinese history contains an account of the flood, 
differing somewhat in its details, as might be expect- 
ed, from the Mosaic narrative of that event ; but in 
time, not more than fifty years from our received 
chronology of the deluge. 

The ridiculous self-conceit of the Chinese, in regard- 
ing themselves as the only civilized people on earth 
and occupying the " Central Flowery Land," while 
all others are designated as " outside barbarians," 
has suppressed all desire to learn anything of the his- 
tory or geography of other countries. These subjects, 
consequently form no part of their school-instruction. 
Maps of " The World " are met with, in five sepa- 
rate scrolls, to be hung side by side, forming when 
thus placed together, a surface of about five feet 
square. It is almost entirely filled up with the 
" Middle Kingdom " while a few insignificant islands 
in the corners, are severally called America, England, 
France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Africa, and 
so on. Peking is, in their estimation, the centre of 
the universe, and they have a chart which represents 
mankind as not only being less and less civilized, in 
proportion to their distance from that capital, but 
also as actually found lacking or changed in some of 
the natural features of a human being, taking their 
own type as the standard. I saw on this chart a spe- 
cimen of a tribe, supposed to dwell some thousands 
of miles from Peking, portrayed as having but one eye, 



ODDITIES. 213 

and that in the middle of the forehead ! Another, 
at a still longer distance, had a hole through the mid- 
dle of his body, through which a pole was thrust, 
and instead of requiring a sedan, he was borne along 
by this means, on the shoulders of two others ! My 
old teacher remarked that it must be a very conve- 
nient mode of locomotion, and gravely asked me if 
such a people existed ! He told me that during the 
war with Great Britain in 1842, he himself read offi- 
cial proclamations that were posted up about the city 
of Shanghai, exhorting the people to a courageous 
resistance to the " red haired devils " i.e. the British, 
who had no joints at the knees, and who, when once 
they fell down, could not rise again to their feet, and 
would then become an easy prey ! Therefore all pos- 
sible obstructions must be placed in their path, so as 
to throw them down ! 

A system of arithmetic is taught by means of 
small wooden balls, sliding on small sticks or wires, 
in a quadrilateral frame. This is an abacus, or 
" counting board," and natives who are expert in its 
use can perform the most extensive and complicated 
calculations, with much greater rapidity and accu- 
racy, than can be done by most of us with slate and 
pencil. You will see one of these on the counter of 
every shop or store. They also have a very perfect 
system of book-keeping — their books consisting of a 
blotter or day-book, cash-book, journal, ledger and 
such others as the peculiar nature of the business may 
require — kept with the utmost neatness and exactitude. 

As literary merit constitutes the highest qualifica- 
tion for official station in the government, any youth 
whose circumstances will admit of it, may pursue his 



214 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

studies under private tutors beyond the common 
school curriculum, and present himself before the 
appointed officers for examination for his first degree. 
If successful, he studies and exercises himself in com- 
position, for three more years, when he may appear 
at the triennial examination for his second degree, cor- 
responding to that of Master of Arts. If he pass 
this, he is eligible to office ; but is seldom appointed 
to any, unless he have friends at court, or money 
with which to bribe the officers who should present 
his claim. If he have enough of it, the money will 
suffice without the prescribed examination. This, 
too, often procures for the stupid dolt, the use of the 
cultivated brains and elegant chirography — which is 
regarded as no less important than style — of some 
poor, but talented scholar, for the preparation of the 
essay, on which he floats into his degree, and then 
into office. There are, however, instances in which 
real merit has been recognized and rewarded. A 
poor boy has been known to raise himself, by the 
force of ability, industry and perseverance, to the 
position of prime minister. 

When any one is promoted to a higher degree in 
letters — for he may go on to one corresponding to 
ours of LL.D. — or in office, his first duty is to go to 
the dwelling of his parents, however obscure they 
may be, if living, or to their graves if dead — and 
prostrating himself on the gronnd before them, wor- 
ship them in the most reverential manner and pro- 
vide for their comfort in every possible way. To 
such an extent do the Chinese carry their notions of 
filial obedience, which, indeed, is one of the most 
marked peculiarities in their national character. 



ODDITIES. 215 

The Chinese locate the intellect in the stomach ! A 
common expression for a man of mental ability is 
that he is " very intelligent in his stomach." Where 
we would say of a man, that he is clear-headed, they 
say he is " exceedingly clear in his stomach." And 
so when we speak of a man putting the contents of 
a book into his head, they call it " eating the book 
and hiding it in his stomach ;" and thus he acquires 
" a bellyful of learning." * 

The only newspaper in China is the " Peking 
Gazette," and that is merely a court journal, issued 
with no regularity. When there are many announce- 
ments of the imperial will, in edicts, proclamations, 
or reports of official documents to be made, it may 
appear daily for some time. Then again there may 
be none for several days. It also chronicles the 
movements of the emperor himself. While famine, 
pestilence or civil discord prevail in the empire, he 
assumes the blame to himself, and going with great 
display to the temples where he worships, prostrates 
himself humbly before his idols, or before " Hea- 
ven " — confesses his own unworthiness and implores 
deliverance for his subjects. I have known the peo- 
ple also to echo these sentiments and sometimes attri- 
bute any general distress to his derelictions. 

There is quite an efficient postal arrangement in 
most parts of the empire, but always by private enter- 
prise, not governmental. Letters are transmitted by it 
with much certainty, and such dispatch as can be 
attained, by the couriers or mail-carriers, on foot or 
on horseback. Steam as a motive power is unknown 
among the Chinese, except as they have seen exhi- 
bitions of it in the vessels of foreigners. So also 



216 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

are electricity and magnetism. Nor do they seem in 
the least disposed to introduce these agents into their 
country. A chicken feather sticking in one corner 
of an envelope, signifies the same as the words 
" with haste," written on it, among ourselves. If 
the feather be singed, it means " with all possible 
dispatch." 

In reckoning time, the Chinese months are moons ; 
but t&ey regulate the length of the year by the sun 
— the new year always beginning with the first new 
moon after the sun enters Aquarius, which is between 
the 21st of January and the 20th of February. 
Their year, therefore, though generally consisting of 
twelve months, must sometimes have a thirteenth — an 
intercalary. They do not divide time into weeks, 
and have no Sabbath. The day is divided into 
twelve hours, instead of twenty -four. They have no 
clocks nor watches except as they have been intro- 
duced by foreigners. The native timepiece is a spi- 
ral coil of slowly combustible material, composed of 
clay and fine sawdust mixed with some adhesive sub- 
stance and dried. It resembles a brown cord, three- 
eighths of an inch in diameter, suspended by one end 
from the roof or floor above and marked by bits of 
string tied around it, into lengths, each of which, from 
its known uniformity in burning, will be consumed 
in just one hour ; it is called a time-stick, and is some- 
times long enough to last a week. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CHINESE MILITARY — "ALL SOULS' DAY." 

A Military Review — Their Uniform — Martial . Music — Archers — An 
Incident — Fire- Arras — Match-locks — Jinjals — A Chastisement — 
Small Arms— Shields — Gymnastics — Rewards — "AH Soul's Day " — 
Its Origin — Procession of Idols — They take an Airing in Sedans — 
Burning Gilt Paper to provide the Dead with Money — Address to 
the Multitude. 

Sept 12, 1850. — A Chinese military review is not one 
of the least singular sights in this singular country. 
You have not now to be informed, for the first time, 
of the extremely awkward and ludicrous appearance 
of a Chinese soldier. To begin with his head — he 
wears upon it a cap or hat, whatever you please to 
call it, of conical shape, having a tuft of horse hair, 
dyed red, fastened on the top, and hanging down its 
sides. In full dress uniform, he wears a clumsy 
quilted garment, wadded with cotton. It extends 
below the knees, and on the back is a large round 
patch of white, which has inscribed upon it, in flam- 
ing red, the character signifying " bravery." This, 
of course, is best shown to the enemy by running, 
and they have seldom failed to display it by turning 
their backs in every engagement with foreign troops. 
If they argue from the maxim that " discretion is the 
better part of valor," they are right, for run bravely, 

10 



218 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

they certainly do. You would suppose, by the vari- 
ety and amount of terrific noise they produce, that 
they relied upon the hideous din of their gongs and 
horns, to frighten their foes to death. A man who 
had a very delicate sense of the " concord of sweet 
sounds " would be likely to dread their music more 
than their bullets or projectiles. 

I went this morning to see one of these martial dis- 
plays ; carrying with me, however, a supply of mes- 
sengers of peace, in the form of tracts. The parade 
ground is a large open space, without the city walls, 
on the south, about two miles from my residence. 
When I reached the spot, the archers — for one de- 
partment of their military uses bows and arrows — had 
finished their exercise, and two of the three mandarins 
present, were exhibiting their strength and skill to 
the admiring crowd, by shooting at a target with bows 
and arrows of their own. Had you witnessed the 
dexterity of these officers on this occasion, you would 
agree with me in the opinion that the safest course for 
one to take who wished to avoid being hit, would be 
to go and stand by the mark. Just as one had dis- 
charged his three arrows, he discovered me among 
the multitude, by my foreign dress, and beckoning me 
toward him, took by the hand, and seated me by his 
side, near a small table. I was admiring the work- 
manship of a bow standing against the table, and the 
mandarin to whom it belonged requested me to try 
it. I begged him to excuse me, saying that I had 
never used one of that kind ; but as he still insisted, 
I took an arrow, placed it on the string, and sent it 
away whizzing toward the mark, which it missed of 
course, but went so far beyond it as to elicit a shout 



CHINESE MILITARY. 219 

of approbation from the people crowded around. 
They exclaimed, " The foreigner's strength is greater 
than the mandarin's " — for most of their arrows had 
fallen short of the mark. My courteous friend seemed 
a little mortified, and he hastened to unstring his bow, 
while the people said, " Let the foreigner shoot again — 
Let the foreigner shoot again." He did not seem to 
hear them, but hastily ordered a cup of tea for me, 
and taking his pipe, filled it with finely-cut tobacco, 
lighted it by drawing a puff or two himself, and then 
wiping the mouth-piece with his hand, gave it to me 
with a graceful bow. This was designed as a compli- 
ment, and not liking to be considered rude by declin- 
ing it so publicly, I took the pipe and smoked it for a 
few seconds, but being too dull to appreciate the vir- 
tues of the " divine weed," unless it be the " divinity 
that stirs within us " to the unsettling of one's break- 
fast, I soon returned it to him, when he used it with 
as much gusto as do many excellent friends of mine, 
in my native land. 

The place where we sat was a permanent platform, 
elevated two steps above the level of the ground, and 
covered with a roof. Our position commanded a 
view of the whole field, and the attendants of the 
mandarin kept the space immediately around us, open 
by whacking away at the eager multitude with large 
whips. The soldiers bearing fire-arms, were drawn up 
in readiness for an exercise, a few rods distant. Two 
large yellow flags, with serrated edges, were planted 
at either extremity of the line, and five small ones of 
the same description, at equal distances apart, be- 
tween the two larger ones and a little in the rear. 
Never having been initiated into the sublime mys- 



220 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

teries of militia training, I am at a loss for the proper 
terms by which to describe the evolutions that were 
performed on the occasion ; but at a given signal the 
gongs and horns and kettle-drums sent forth their 
deafening noise, the soldiers formed themselves into 
a variety of positions, and commenced firing — first all 
together, then in platoons, and finally, each man as 
fast as he could load his piece, retiring, as soon as he 
had discharged it, a few paces to the rear — thus keep- 
ing up an unbroken succession of shots, and yet with- 
out the least confusion. They certainly were well 
drilled. Each man seemed to know his precise 
position, and fell into it without interrupting his 
neighbor. 

The match-locks bore some general resemblance to 
a musket, but were exceedingly clumsy. The barrel 
is very roughly made, and the muzzle flares out like 
an old-fashioned blunderbuss. It has nothing that 
can be called a lock, but instead, a piece of iron about 
fourteen inches long, fastened at the middle by a 
pin to the breech-piece half-way from the pan to the 
end. Working upon this pin or pivot, one part of 
the iron projects below and backward, while the 
other projects above and forward, having its end bent 
downward toward the pan. The end is forked so as 
to hold a piece of burning rope. The pan is filled 
with powder, and provided with a cover, which the 
soldier takes off when he wishes to discharge his gun. 
The lighted rope is about four inches above the 
powder, and is brought into contact with it by press- 
ing up the lower end of the iron rod, which serves 
as a trigger. A spring keeps it in its place. From 
this imperfect description you can discover that a 



CHINESE MILITARY. 221 

Chinese gun is a miserably awkward affair. There 
are two sizes, but of similar construction. The lar- 
ger which is called by foreigners a "jinjal," has a 
barrel of two inches in diameter, and requires two 
men to handle it — one at the muzzle, who loads and 
then places it on his shoulder, while the one at the 
breech primes, adjusts the match and discharges the 
piece. The place of cartridges is supplied by many 
small pieces of bamboo, each containing the quantity 
of powder necessary for a single load, and these are 
carried in a belt around the waist. The Chinese 
manufactured gunpowder several hundred years at 
least before it was discovered by Western nations, 
but from ignorance of the precise chemical proper- 
ties, as well as of the proper admixture of the ingre- 
dients, they cannot graduate it to any given strength. 
The smaller sized matchlocks have a forked stick 
fastened to the stock near the muzzle as a rest, to be 
used when the soldier fires, kneeling. One poor 
fellow accidentally discharged his piece before the 
word of command was given, and my friend, the re- 
viewing officer, immediately dispatched an attend- 
ant to ascertain who it was. When the evolution 
was finished, he was led up before the mandarin by 
two men, and as he approached, fell on his knees, 
explaining the cause of the accident and begging for 
mercy. He was severely reproved and ordered to be 
punished. His cap and jacket were taken off and 
four men laid him on the ground at full length, on 
his face. They then bared his legs at the thighs, and 
a man with a wooden paddle, four feet long, gave him 
nine blows on the fleshy part of the thighs, with 
sufficient force to discolor the parts, but not to break 



222 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

the skin. He groaned piteously during the inflic- 
tion, and I was just about to intercede for him when 
he was released. He was then remanded to the ranks, 
and performed his part in ' the remainder of the 
exercise. 

Following the review of the matchlock department, 
came that of soldiers using swords, spears and shields. 
The shields are round, about two feet in diameter, and 
made of ratan, having the face of a tiger painted on 
them so large as to cover the whole surface. The 
performance with these weapons was quite amusing. 
Those carrying the shields showed great dexterity in 
warding off the blows of their assailants. They 
would turn somersets, roll over on the ground, and 
cut all sorts of antics in dodging, while their antago- 
nists exerted themselves so to strike as not to hit. 
They would sometimes so arrange themselves that 
their shields would form a pyramid of frightful 
tigers' faces, while no part of those holding them 
could be seen. Then, again, they would separate, 
and each man fall down upon the ground, com- 
pletely covering his body with his shield. 

When the whole was concluded, the reviewing 
officer distributed rewards for conspicuous activity 
and skill, as promptly as he had before inflicted 
punishment for remissness. To the man who turned 
the best somerset he gave two hundred copper cash, 
equal in value to thirteen cents. 

On leaving, I gave tracts to each of the three man- 
darins, and disposed of all the rest in my possession, 
to the people who crowded around me, and to others 
whom I met on my way home. 

Hearing a gong sounded ak>ng the streets one 



r." 223 

morning, and inquiring the cause, I was told that on 
that day — the middle of the seventh month, by Chi- 
nese reckoning, every family was expected to con- 
tribute a quota of gilt paper, to be transformed into 
money by the action of fire, for the use of those 
spirits in the other world, who had no near relatives 
or friends living, to keep them in funds. It was an 
"All-souls " day. The origin of the custom I learned 
to be as follows: The first monarch of the Ming 
dynasty was born of very poor and obscure parents, 
but by means of his vigorous abilities overcame the 
untoward circumstances of birth and fortune, and 
finally reached the throne. His parents died during 
his childhood, and he was never able to ascertain the 
place of their burial, so upon his accession to power, 
being desirous to sacrifice to his ancestors, he com- 
manded his officers throughout the empire to prepare 
offerings, and burn paper money in every place, so 
that he might be certain they would, at some place 
or other, Wherever their shades might be, get a por- 
tion of what was designed for them, and thus not be 
left unprovided for in the spirit-land. This, it is said, 
occurred about five hundred years ago, and thus ori- 
ginated the practice of making offerings for the 
ghosts of all who die away from home, and whose 
friends never know the place of their sepulture. This 
custom is observed three times a year. The gilt 
paper collected during the day is strung on long 
bamboo poles, and at night is carried to the many 
burial-grounds in and around the city, and burned 
at every few rods all along the streets and paths, so 
as to give every forlorn spirit a share, wherever it 
may roam. Some carrying torch« and lanterns, and 



224 . FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

some playing on various kinds of musical instruments, 
give the procession quite an imposing appearance in 
the darkness of the night, as they wend their way 
among the solitary dwellings of the dead. 

On the same days, but without any apparent con- 
nection between the ceremonies, fi.ve of the principal 
idols in the city are taken from the chief temple, 
placed in large sedan-chairs and carried about 
through the principal streets during the day, and at 
nightfall are brought to a small temple on the north 
bank of the Yang-king-pang, outside the north gate. 
Men dressed in the fantastic costumes of former ages, 
some carrying flags and red wooden tablets on poles, 
containing inscriptions in large gilt characters — some 
with gongs, others with long pieces of bamboo rat- 
tling along on the pavements, and others still, carry- 
ing large lanterns, follow in the train of these idols 
as their attendants. Besides these, are large numbers 
of persons of both sexes and all ages, with dishevelled 
hair, wearing red garments from head to foot, hav- 
ing iron chains around their necks, and handcuffed ; 
the poorer walking, and those who can afford it, 
riding in sedans. These all are persons who, having 
been sick, have vowed to the idols that if they re- 
covered, they would regard themselves as criminals, 
deserving to be punished, but spared through the 
compassion of the gods ; and they follow in the pro- 
cession in this attire, in fulfillment of their vows. 
Besides these, multitudes of people crowd the streets 
through which the procession passes, to witness the 
scene. The occasion is a general holiday throughout 
the city. Toward night, I went to the small temple 
above mentioned^ and found the place thronged. 



r." 225 

One idol had already been brought in. As the others 
approached one after another, at short intervals, the 
attendants who followed them, shouted and prostrated 
themselves on the ground. Then, as each idol was 
placed with its sedan in the position assigned to it, 
small tables filled with a variety of articles of choice 
kinds of food were set before them as offerings, with 
the belief that the god actually feasted upon what 
was set before him. If he did, he was satisfied with 
a marvellously small quantity, or else the same food 
was eaten twice, for it is certain that the lonafide 
flesh and blood attendants of his godship ate it after- 
ward, doubtless without perceiving any diminution. 
The usual accompaniments of gilt paper, incense 
sticks and red wax candles, were burnt in profusion, 
while hundreds of these poor deluded heathen came 
and worshipped most devoutly before their senseless 
blocks. A mandarin with his train, who it seems 
was master of ceremonies, came in about sunset, and 
prostrated himself, bowing his head to the ground 
nine times, before each of the five idols separately, 
and just at this juncture, the many strings of gilt 
paper collected through the day, forming a pile eight 
or nine feet high, were set on fire outside the temple, 
a little to the eastward of the entrance. I experi- 
enced a feeling something akin to what Paul felt, 
when, at Athens, he saw the whole city given to idol- 
atry — my spirit was stirred within me, and taking my 
position in the open space with the chief idol in front 
of me, and the other two on either hand, I distributed 
to the people crowding around me the tracts I had 
taken with me, and declared to them the absolute 
folly and wickedness of these superstitious practices, 

10* 



226 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

the utter uselessness of their idols — that there is but 
one God who made all things, and that He only de- 
served their worship and service — that He so loved 
them as to give his Son Jesus to save them from 
eternal punishment. They listened attentively, and 
asked me many questions as I talked to them and 
with them till dark, and then turned my steps home- 
ward with a burdened, sorrowful heart, praying as I 
went, that what few seeds of truth had been sown in 
weakness might be raised in power. But alas ! 
sighed I, when, oh when will this multitudinous 
people become the people of the Lord — when will 
they be persuaded that there is no other way by 
which they can be saved but through Jesus Christ ? 
Then again, I comforted myself with the reflection 
that the work was the work of the Lord, and that He 
had the power to bring it to a speedier fulfillment 
than the strongest aspirations of my slow faith dared 
hope for. But He will accomplish it in due time — 
it is a small thing with the Lord to save by many or 
by few — it is not by might nor by power, but by my 
Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. Therefore I thanked 
God and took courage. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

INFANTICIDE — CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS RELIGIONS 

THEATRICALS OPPOSITES. 

Infanticide — Causes — Extent — Foundling Hospital— Native Dispensary 
— Charity Schools — Three Forms of Idolatry — Confucius and his 
System — Mencius — Tauism — Buddhism — Time and Mode of its In- 
troduction into China — Tenets — A Recluse — Ideas of a Future 
State — Resemblance to Romanism — Various Deities — Pagodas — 
Lung-hwa-tah — Native Theatricals — Odd Difference's. 

Infanticide is not so generally prevalent in China 
as has been supposed, though it is doubtless practised 
to a considerable extent in certain populous, and at 
the same time not very fertile districts. At Canton, 
so far as careful investigation has been able to deter- 
mine, the practice is by no means common. In like 
manner, minute inquiry at Shanghai has satisfied me 
that it is quite rare in that city also. But at Amoy, and 
some other cities in' the province of Foh-kien, it has 
prevailed to a shocking degree. Nor do the people 
attempt to conceal the fact, admitting that in some 
places, as many as half the female infants are de- 
stroyed. The reason assigned is inability on the part 
of the parents to support them. 

At Shanghai there is a regular Foundling Hospital. 
By the side of the door, in a little recess, on the 
narrow street in which it is situated, is a large drawer 



228 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

extending through the thick, brick wall, so that it can 
be opened on either side. The mother brings -her 
babe, with its name and age written on a bit of paper, 
attached to its dress, and depositing it in the drawer, 
shuts it and gives two or three loud raps on a piece 
of bamboo, placed there for the purpose, with a stick 
which hangs at its side. She then retires a few yards, 
and watching the drawer, presently sees it drawn 
through on the inside, and then departs. The infant 
is taken to the superintendent of the establishment, 
who has its name, age and time of reception care- 
fully recorded. It is then thoroughly washed and 
comfortably dressed, if it be not so already — and 
handed over to a nurse. When I visited the hospital 
it was remarkably clean and orderly, everything 
being done in the most systematic manner. It was 
not a very large establishment, there being but about 
forty children there at that time. "When they become 
old enough to be at all serviceable, they are appren- 
ticed as servants to families who apply for them, and 
some are given to Buddhist nunneries. Many of 
them are diseased, and many die in infancy. This 
hospital is supported by the charity of the wealthy. 

There are also one or two native dispensaries, to 
which the poor may resort on the first and fifteenth 
of each month, and receive medical aid gratuitously. 
They are sustained in the same manner, and on the 
appointed days are thronged with applicants. 

Then there are, besides, charity schools, to which 
parents who are unable to pay tuition may send their 
sons free of charge. These all are redeeming features 
in this land of selfishness and idolatry ; and show 
that even the Chinese are not entirely destitute of 



RELIGIONS. 229 

humane impulses, nor altogether lacking in benevo- 
lent enterprises. 

The three leading forms of Chinese idolatry are 
Confucianism, Tauism, and Buddhism. The first con- 
sists in the worship of their great philosopher, Con- 
fucius, or more correctly, Koong-foo-tsz, which the 
Jesuits latinized into " Confucius." (A facetious 
friend of ours — a noble and pious shipmaster, Cap- 
tain Noah Webber, who frequently visited us on his 
voyages, persisted in still further anglicizing it — he 
called it, not inappropriately either, " Confuse-us.") 
So also did they the name of Mang-tsz — another noted 
philosopher who lived a hundred years later than 
the former — it is now known among foreigners as 
" Mencius." But the Chinese would never recognize 
either of them by these modern names. Confucius 
flourished about 500 years before the Christian era, 
and gave utterance to some very excellent moral pre- 
cepts, to apply in the different relations between man 
and man, but nothing more. His whole system is a 
mere materialism. He studiously avoids reference 
to a spiritual or future life. His writings are still the 
standard of style and sentiment among the literati of 
the nation, by whom he is mostly worshipped. There 
is a temple to his memory in every city, and in many 
other places throughout the empire. They contain no 
image of the sage, but simply tablets inscribed with 
his name, and two other characters signifying " spi- 
ritual residence," before which offerings of slain 
animals are made, and worship is performed. 

The second system, Tauism, was originally a com- 
bination of rationalism and mysticism. Its name, 
Tau, signifies Keason, and is taken from the only 



230 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

work — Tau-teh-kiDg — " Keason and Virtue Classic " 
— written by its founder, Lau-tsz, who was born b.c. 
604, and was nearly contemporary with Confucius, 
who was born b.c. 550. His doctrine, was, that 
Eeason originated all things, itself being self-existent 
and eternal, and that all good beings will finally 
return to the bosom of Eternal Keason, while the bad 
will be doomed to successive births among men. He 
recommended, by precept and example, a life of re- 
tirement and seclusion, passed in subjugation of the 
passions, and in meditations upon Virtue. The 
Tauist temples in China are filled with idols, among 
which a trio, called the " Three Pure Ones," always 
occupies the most conspicuous position. The Tauist 
priests profess to have constant intercourse with the 
invisible world, which they have peopled with spirits 
and demons. I once saw one of them violently cut- 
ting, slashing and thrusting the air with a sword, as 
if in actual combat with an unseen adversary. This 
was a part of the ceremony in exorcising evil spirits. 
The third, and by far the most popular system, is 
Buddhism. The manner of its introduction was re- 
markable. In the year of our Lord 65, the Emperor 
Ming dreamed that a personage, whose face shone 
with the most dazzling brightness, and whose raiment 
gleamed with an unearthly splendor, appeared to him 
and directed him to' send to the westward, where he 
would find a new religion, which he must introduce 
into his empire. In the morning, he immediately dis- 
patched an embassy in search of the faith that had been 
indicated to him. The messengers travelled on west- 
ward, till they came to India, where, falling in with 
Buddhist priests, were persuaded by them, that theirs 



RELIGIONS. 231 

was the system designated in the dream of the em- 
peror. Accordingly, the embassy returned to China, 
accompanied by some of these priests, with their 
idols and sacred books, and thus it was introduced. 
One cannot help being filled with amazement, as well 
as regret, that these messengers were not allowed 
to proceed without this disastrous interruption; in 
which event, they would probably have reached 
Judea, and in that case, the religion of Jesus might 
soon, perhaps, have become even more universal in 
China, than did Buddhism. It was a wonderful coin- 
cidence, too, that the title of the emperor on the 
throne at the time of the advent of our Lord, was 
Ping, meaning Peace. 

Among the leading tenets of Buddhism, with its 
multitudinous idols, are the transmigration of souls, 
and final absorption into Buddha, or in other words, 
annihilation. Some of its moral precepts are excel- 
lent, and like Tauism, it teaches to restrain the appe- 
tites and subdue the passions. Its followers believe 
that they can acquire merit by repeating the words 
" O-me-to-fuh" — the name of Buddha in Sanscrit, 
and several other sentences in the same language, not 
one word of which do any of them understand — and 
by self-mortification. At a monastery, about forty 
miles west from Shanghai, I saw a Buddhist priest in 
a room about ten feet square, which contained a small 
gilded image of his idol on a table, and a seat about 
two and a half feet square, on which he sat cross- 
legged for repose. The door was barred, locked, and 
sealed, by strips of red paper bearing the date of his 
entrance, and the signature of a high mandarin in the 
large neighboring city of Soong-kiang — pasted over 



232 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

the locks and bars. I conversed with him through an 
opening in the wall about ten inches square, by the 
side of the door, through which also his wants were 
supplied by his brother priests. He had entered to 
pass five years in devotion. Three of these had ex- 
pired, in all which time, he told me he had never 
once lain down, but had slept only in the sitting pos- 
ture. On the top of his head were nine deep circular 
scars, about the size of a half dime, in rows of three 
in each, produced by allowing the moxa — a small 
cone of slowly combustible material, lighted at the 
apex, to burn down into the skin till it was entirely 
consumed. His seat was surrounded by a musquito- 
curtain — musquito bites being a description of torture 
not down on his programme. His object in going into 
this seclusion, was to acquire a degree of merit, that 
would recommend him to the favorable regard of the 
people, whom he intended to solicit for money, to 
enable him to repair a part of the temple, which 
had fallen into ruin. 

They believe in a beautiful paradise for the good 
in the future world, where they will dwell until gra- 
dually absorbed into Buddha, who himself has be- 
come an ethereal nothing — this will be the consum- 
mation of bliss. Their description of the punishments 
of the wicked are sufficiently horrible. I have seen 
them represented both in paintings and in figures 
wrought in clay. The latter particularly, at a new 
and elaborately ornamented temple called the " Bril- 
liant Happiness Monastery," within the north gate, in 
the city of Shanghai. The executioners are monstrous 
demons with horns and tails, and have knives, swords, 
spears, pitchforks, clubs, saws, and axes. The vie- 



RELIGIONS. 233 

tims are thrown upon mountains covered with 
sharpened spikes ; into caldrons of boiling pitch, and 
into flaming furnaces. They are sawn asunder, being 
bound, feet upward, between two upright iron pil- 
lars ; others are strangled, have their tongues cut out, 
are exposed to the most intense cold, and then trans- 
ferred to burning flames. Others are seen beginning 
to assume the forms of the animals in which they are 
doomed to appear again on earth, after the metem- 
psychosis. There is even a huge mill into which 
some wretches are thrown, while a monster turns the 
crank, and thus they are ground over, coming out 
hogs, horses, goats, oxen, etc. Melted lead is poured 
down the throats of some ; the flesh is torn off from 
others with pincers ; and others still are roasted on 
spits and gridirons. 

Many of their forms and ceremonies are so similar 
to those of popery, that one of the first Romish mis- 
sionaries who came to China, wrote back to Italy that 
he believed Buddhism an invention of the devil as 
a caricature of the " true faith." The points of re- 
semblance are many and striking. Common to both, 
are monasteries and nunneries ; the worship of 
images and sacred relics ; canonization of saints ; the 
celibacy of the priesthood ; the tonsure, or shaving of 
the head, and their singularity of dress ; the use of 
incense, wax candles, holy water and bells, in their 
worship ; numbering their prayers by counting the 
beads of a rosary ; the ritual in an unknown language ; 
"vain repetitions;" the doctrine of purgatory, from 
which souls may be delivered by the prayers of 
priests ; charms and amulets ; the pretension to 
miracles ; works of merit and supererogation ; pen- 



234 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

ance; the imposing array of paraphernalia about 
their altars; the titles of their intercessors — the 
" Queen of Heaven," " Goddess of mercy," " Holy 
Mother," and even worshipping the figure of a virgin, 
holding an infant in her arms. 

Among the many idols in the native temples, there 
is one called the " god of thunder." He is repre- 
sented as causing thunder by beating on gigantic 
kettle-drums, while another, the " goddess of light- 
ning," stands holding in each hand a mirror, which, 
turned rapidly toward the sun, produces lightning. 

There is in Shanghai a temple containing thirteen 
wooden idols, one for each month in the year, which 
the natives call the " Flower gods." These, they 
believe, preside over the flowers, and they worship 
them by placing the choicest of their flowers before 
them on their birthdays. 

There, too, among many others, is a large and 
costly temple of the " god of fire." And then, there 
are numberless smaller ones, in the niches of walls 
along streets, and at bridges. There are gods of 
mountains, hills, valleys and plains ; of seas, lakes, 
rivers, creeks and canals ; of families, schools, shops 
and kitchens; but it is useless to attempt to enume- 
rate them. It has been estimated that the Chinese 
worship at least 30,000 ! Among the numerous gilt- 
lettered signs that hang vertically from the eaves by 
the side of shop-doors, along the streets, may be seen, 
now and then, one inscribed "gods made and sold 
here? 

Octagonal towers or pagodas are built in certain 
localities to ward off evil influences, and to secure 
health and prosperity; they always contain idols. 



THEATRICALS. 235 

There is a handsome structure of this description, 
about six miles from Shanghai, called Loong-hwa-tah — 
" Dragon-flower pagoda." It is seven stories high, 
and has suspended from the curved-up corners o,f its 
seven projecting roofs, bells which tinkle sweetly 
when moved by the wind. » 

Theatrical representations are given in honor of 
the gods. The stage is a platform ten or twelve feet 
high, directly over the entrance to the spacious court- 
yard of the open temple ; consequently the exhibi- 
tion is in front of the idols, and they are supposed to 
enjoy the scene. The two sides of the court are lined 
with two-story buildings, the lower being occupied as 
shops, and the upper as stalls, which are occupied, 
during the performance, by females, who are present 
to witness the play. The whole court, which is paved 
with well-hewn stone, is crowded with spectators, for 
there is never any charge for witnessing the perform- 
ance. The entire expense is defrayed by some wealthy 
merchant, perhaps, who, on engaging in some specu- 
lation, came to this temple, and, worshipping the 
idols, made a vow that if he should be successful, he 
would give a theatrical exhibition in honor of these 
deities. Many of the plays are well written, but the 
performance is the veriest burlesque that can be con- 
ceived. There is no illusion whatever, and there are 
seldom, if ever, any curtains or painted scenes. All 
the actors are in full view of the audience throughout 
the entire play. When not taking part, they are 
standing aside, laughing and talking, drinking tea or 
smoking. In uttering the words of the piece, no 
natural tone of voice is ever heard — it is always a 
disagreeable, nasal w T hine. The same may be said of 



236 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

the native singing, in which the whine becomes a 
high, falsetto squeal. There is much pantomime, and 
a vast amount is left to be supplied by the imagina- 
tion of the spectator. 

The Chinese are our antipodes not only in geograph- 
ical position, but they do so many things in a manner 
directly the reverse of our own modes, that a most 
amusing chapter might be written on these points of 
difference. The following are some of the particu- 
lars : They shave the hair from the head instead of 
that on the face, after they reach full manhood. The 
lather brush looks like a tooth-brush, and they lather 
with warm water only, without soap. They not only 
always wash and bathe in hot water, but will also 
drink warm water in preference to cold. They begin 
at the end of a book to read, and read from the top 
to the bottom, beginning at the right hand, instead of 
across the page and beginning at the left. Explana- 
tory notes are always at the top of the page instead 
of at the bottom. The title of a book is always on 
the outer margin instead of at the top. The leaves 
are all doubled and printed on one side instead of 
being single and printed on both. The pupils in 
schools study as loudly as they can scream, instead of 
silently, and in reciting stand with the back to the 
teacher, instead of the face. They locate the seat of 
intelligence in the stomach instead of in the head. 
In salutation, they each shake their own hands instead 
of the others. With them the magnetic needle is 
always said to point to the south, and in naming the 
four cardinal points they say east, south, west, north. 
Instead of southeast and northwest, they always 
say east-south and west-north. Matting is used for 



opposites. 237 

mattresses instead of on floors, and they use hard pil- 
lows (sometimes a block of wood) instead of soft. 
Long nails are ornamental — if three or four inches, 
they are of quite an aristocratic length. They put 
the given name, or the title by which you are called, 
after the family name instead of before it. So it 
would be Smith Mr. instead of Mr. Smith. It is im- 
polite to take off your hat in the house. They plaster 
and whitewash buildings on the outerside oftener than 
on the inner. It is a strong mark of filial regard for 
a son to buy a coffin as a present to his father, while 
yet living. On presenting it, he says, " may you live 
ten thousand years!" When a man becomes able, 
one of the first articles of furniture he buys for him- 
self is his coffin ! It is often used as a bench or table 
for years. When it becomes tenanted it is frequently 
kept in the house for many years longer, instead of 
being taken out and buried ; and when thus taken 
out it is often placed on the surface of the ground 
instead of beneath it. The inscription is always on 
the end of the coffin instead of on the top. They 
wear white for mourning instead of black. At fune- 
rals, women must weep even if they are not grieved ; 
men must not if they are. More lanterns are carried 
at the time of the full moon than at any other. They 
sell wood and fluids by weight instead of by measure. 
At a dinner, the dessert is always eaten first. The 
seat of honor is on the left hand instead of at the 
right. They eat with two sticks, both in one hand, 
instead of with a knife and fork, one in each. Their 
boots and shoes are higher at the toes than at the 
heels, and are mostly made of cloth instead of leather. 
They use whiting on them instead of blacking. In 



238 FIVE YEARS IK CHINA. 

laying floors they lay the plank with the smooth sur- 
face down on the timbers, while the upper is left 
rough and unplaned. In drinking tea, the saucer is 
placed on the top of the cup instead of at the bottom. 
They kill themselves to be revenged of an enemy. 
Men wear gowns, petticoats, beads, embroidery, and 
garters, and women wear pantaloons (not, however, 
" the pantaloons "). They always mount a horse on 
the wrong side, and women ride as the men. Mili- 
tary officers carry fans instead of pistols. The plume 
is on the back of the cap and hangs down, instead of 
being on the front and standing up. In battle they 
wait for a ship to sail into a line with the cannon, on 
a fortification, instead of moving the gun, and direct- 
ing it to the position of the ship. In the dress of 
men, the drawers are large and loose at the bottom, 
and have no strings, while the pants are tight as 
possible and are tied around the ankles like drawers. 
In other words, it might be said, they wear their 
drawers outside of their pantaloons.' Among us, 
young men and women choose for themselves and do 
their own courting, when they become grown (and 
sometimes before) ; in China this is all done for them 
by their parents while they are infants. With us, 
ladies have the preference; with them, gentlemen. 
"We educate and honor our wives, sisters and daugh- 
ters, and bring them forward in society ; they degrade 
theirs, keep them in ignorance and out of sight. 
Women have their feet always bound — their waists, 
never. The circumference of their dress is greatest 
at the waist and least at the ankles. They wear their 
breast-pins on the forehead. The young lady goes to 
the residence of her betrothed to be married, and she 



OPPOSITES. 

wails and weeps along the whole way to her wedding. 
They always have feasting and music at funerals. 
Green plums are preferred to ripe ones. They abo- 
minate milk, butter and cheese, but relish castor oil, 
snails, and many other articles that are to us horribly 
offensive. They shave off nearly the whole of the 
eye-brows, leaving a mere pencil of hair, while that 
on the opposite side of the head is allowed to grow 
till it reaches the ground. Although men do not 
exactly set on the eggs, they yet do most of the 
hatching, thus assuming the prerogative of the hens 
and depriving them of that pleasure and privilege. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

INCIDENTS. 

A Foundling — Air-Castle Building — " Reckoning without the Host" — 
Disappointment — A Boat-Trip to Tsayn-so— Inundation — The City 
— Preaching and Tract Distribution — " Bread on the Waters." 

One Sunday morning, as I was on my way to the 
chapel of the London Missionary Society, to hear Dr. 
Medliurst preach in Chinese, my attention was drawn 
to several persons looking toward the top of the high 
embankment forming the inner portion of the city 
wall. I stopped a moment and looked in the same 
direction, when presently I heard the faint cry of an 
infant, but saw nothing. Said I to a woman standing 
near me, " What is it ?" She replied, " It is a little 
child, whose parents have thrown it away, and it is a 
ten thousand times fine looking child " — a common 
form of expression among the Chinese for the super- 
lative. "But why did they throw it away?" "I 
don't know," said she " unless it was that they had 
no rice to give it to eat." Upon this I turned to go 
to the spot, and then a dozen followed, but until now, 
no one seemed disposed to go near it. Climbing up 
the steep bank, I discovered as I reached the top, a 
a very pretty little child, entirely naked, and crying 
as if its heart was broken. It was sitting on the 
step of a back door of an old dilapidated temple, 



INCIDENTS. 24:1 

which stands on the city wall. " Does any one here 
know its father and mother ?" Nobody knew them. 
" Can any one tell how it came here ?" No one could 
tell. " Do you think its parents put it here to die 
because they were too poor to buy food for it?" 
" Yes, that must be it V " Well, suppose I take it to 
my house and give it rice and clothes, and bring it 
up I" " Oh," said several at once, " that is very 
good ; that will be doing a very good act." " Then," 
said I to one of the women whom curiosity had at- 
tracted to the place, " will you take it into your house 
and put a dress on it, and give it some- rice to eat, 
until to-morrow, when I will come and take it home 
with me and pay you for your trouble?" "Yes," 
said she, " I will do that." " Well, where do you 
live?" "Just down yonder, near the foot of the 
wall." So she went, and taking the naked little out- 
cast by the hand, lifted it up, but after a step or two 
it sank down, unable to walk from weakness, the re- 
sult of hunger. So the woman, who manifested some 
kindly feeling for the poor little friendless one, took 
it up in her arms and carried it down the bank to 
her house. The child ceased crying as soon as she 
found herself in the arms of one whom she could not 
distinguish from her ^natural mother, and I went on 
to the chapel. After service, on my way home, I 
called in at the house of the woman who had taken 
my little foundling, and the first object that met my 
eye, was the little creature herself, having on a thin 
garment — for the weather was quite warm— seated on 
the threshold of an inner door, playing with a string, 
and apparently as contented and happy as if she had 
never known any other home. To my inquiry if the 

11 



242 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

child had been fed, the kind old woman replied in 
the affirmative, and the appearance of the former 
gave pretty good evidence to the truth of her state- 
ment Kenewing my promise to come for the child 
on the morrow, I went home and told my wife of the 
occurrence. "We both regarded the helpless little one 
as providentially thrown upon our hands, not only for 
deliverance, perhaps from death, but to be trained up 
for a blessing to her benighted countrywomen here, 
and a bright star in glory hereafter. What we might 
do for her, and how we should teach her, were sub- 
jects of frequent conversation through the day. We 
determined to call her Annie, since so much interest 
already existed in America, in behalf of the little 
girl of that name who was an inmate of our family 
for a few months. And we thought we might easily 
transfer this interest as well as the funds for her sup- 
port, to our newly adopted charge. This is a Chinese 
name, and is sounded An-ye, but it is so much like 
that pretty Annie, so familiar to us at home, that we 
always so wrote and called it. This circumstance 
probably gave rise to the idea among our friends at 
home that when we took a Chinese child to support 
and educate we were at liberty to give it an English 
name, which you may do if you please, but it will 
never be used by the natives themselves. 

The next day, as soon as the press of morning du- 
ties would permit, I went for my little protegee. What 
bright visions of the future presented themselves to 
my mind as I walked along. I fancied to myself the 
child growing up under our fostering care, her tender 
mind early imbued with the knowledge of the true 
God — her heart the subject of the gracious influences 



INCIDENTS. 243 

of the Holy Spirit, and then the light she would be- 
come to her degraded countrymen. My thoughts 
were occupied with such anticipations as these when 
I reached the house where I had left her the day be- 
fore. The woman's answer to my question, " Where 
is the child ?" instantly dashed my hopes to the 
ground. Its mother had come and taken it away. 
" Its mother ! why I thought its mother had thrown 
it out to die." " Well, we all thought so, too, but we 
were mistaken. It had strayed away from its home, 
and some beggars had stripped it of its clothes, and 
then left it to perish where we found it. But its 
mother came along in great distress, searching and 
inquiring for her child, and was overjoyed to find it 
here, so she took it home again." Of course I could 
not demur to the proceeding, though I must acknow- 
ledge my disappointment was by no means trifling. 
However, I consoled myself with the thought, that 
all the glowing anticipations which had a moment 
before filled my breast, might yet be realized in the 
person of some other little heathen child at some 
future day. 

" Here, Xe-kway, take my pallet and blanket, and 
come with me to the boat at the mouth of the creek ; 
for it is now near nine o'clock, and I have engaged to 
meet Mr. Edkins, of the London Missionary Society, 
there at ten. We are going to take a day's trip into 
the country on a missionary excursion." I led the 
way, and my Chinese servant, Ne-kway, followed me 
with the bundle along the winding stone-walk on the 
bank of the creek. This path for some part of the 
way becomes a narrow, crowded street, lined with 
shops on either side, and alive with human beings 



244 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

bustling to and fro on the pavement, or making 
merry with companions over their cups in the tea- 
taverns. " JSe-kway, here is a candle shop, you had 
better get a candle and put it in your oiled-paper 
lantern, for the moon is not up yet, and it is quite 
dark." Now, then, we can see the way plainly. 
Presently we come to the mouth of the Yang-king- 
pang, where it empties into the broad Hwang-poo, 
on whose placid bosom some twenty sail of foreign 
vessels lay quietly moored. Their masts and rigging 
at first but dimly seen by star-light, soon became dis- 
tinctly visible before the rising moon, and look like 
strong dark lines drawn against the sky. We find 
the boat at the place appointed, with three boatmen 
in waiting. Knowing that they must begin to ply 
the oar at midnight, when the tide will flow in our 
favor, they are taking a nap beforehand. After plac- 
ing my sleeping apparatus on board, Ne-kway returns 
home. My friend has not yet come ; but as our sleep 
will be sufficiently short and disturbed through the 
night, I will try to get a little now while the boat is 
still ; so, spreading out my pallet on one of the 
broad benches, I betake myself to the same employ- 
ment with the three good fellows " aft." Just as I 
begin to doze, here comes Edkins and spoils it all. 
He does not seem at all disposed to " turn in ;" so, 
being effectually waked, I might as well "turn out" 
and keep him company. The boatmen pull up the 
anchor and scull across to the east side of the river, 
that they may be in a more favorable position for 
taking advantage of the flood tide. By this time the 
moon is riding the heavens in full beauty, and one 
might fancy she was making the Hwang-poo her 






INCIDENTS. 245 

toilet-glass, so perfectly does it reflect her face. As 
we come near the opposite bank, rattle, rattle, rattle, 
goes the chain — clown goes the anchor, and in a few 
minutes everything is quiet again, and we are all 
asleep, but one boatman, who keeps awake, or should, 
if he does not, to watch for the first turning of the 
tide. We are apprised of that fact after a short sea- 
son of repose, by the moving about of our boatmen, 
pulling up the anchor once more ; and soon we are on 
our way to Tsayn-so — the place of our destination. 

The incessant creaking of the great oar, together 
with the rocking motion of the boat, which necessa- 
rily accompanies sculling, too plainly announce to me 
that I am to sleep no more to-night. Not so, however, 
with my fellow voyageur. He is an " old salt " at 
this kind of travelling — making a trip weekly — and 
so he sleeps away most provokingly sound. After 
alternately dozing and turning from side to side for 
several hours, daylight at length comes to my relief. 
Dress myself and hasten on deck, where, seated on a 
small bench, I breathe the fresh morning air with a 
keen relish. The fog is so dense, that one can scarcely 
see the banks of the canal ; as it gradually clears 
away, we discover the poor peasantry plying their 
early tasks. They are now gathering their scanty 
crop of cotton, which the unfavorable season has 
reduced to nearly one half an average quantity. In 
some places, the late heavy rains have quite de- 
stroyed it. Many fields are still under water, and the 
canals in every part of this vast level region are filled 
to their banks, and in many places are overflowing 
them. As we pass along, we see the water occupy- 
ing the door-ways and earth floors of many a poor 



246 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

Dative tenement. Even this, however, does not 
quench the curiosity of the inmates to see the " out- 
side country men ;" so men, women and children, 
standing on pieces of wood, planks and stones, crowd 
the doors to get a glimpse of us — for my companion 
has just made his appearance. " Why Edkins, what 
a favorite you must be with the goddess of sleep ; 
she shook her dewy wand over you, and you snored 
away as if you were sleeping for a wager — while I 
wooed her the night long in vain. It was really 
tantalizing ; you should have been more considerate." 
The tea-kettle is soon set a-boiling over a charcoal 
fire in a small earthen furnace in the stern of the 
boat, and having opened our baskets and spread out 
our provisions on the little table, we make an excel- 
lent breakfast on cold beef and bread, with a good, 
hot cup of tea. We have but little more than finished 
our repast, when we arrive at a stone bridge, under 
which our boat cannot pass, from the quantity of water 
in the canal, and we are still four miles distant from 
Tsayn-so. After a few minutes' deliberation, we hail 
a fisherman, who is just paddling by in his frail 
canoe, and having stipulated with him for a passage, 
take a half-bushel bag of tracts in hand, and embark 
for the second time. The boat is so small that we 
must sit flat on the bottom to avoid upsetting. So 
seated vis-a-vis we open our umbrellas to shield us 
from the sun, and paddle on toward the town we 
design visiting. Some missionaries having been this 
way before, on the same errand with ourselves, many 
of the people living along the canal, seem to know 
our object, and eagerly ask for books, sometimes run- 
ning a long distance on the banks for the sake oi 



INCIDENTS. 247 

getting them. We approach the shore at convenient 
places to gratify them, and are abundantly thanked 
in return. At noon we reach Tsayn-so. The high, 
strong brick wall, which surrounds the town, is much 
dilapidated in appearance ; and the four wooden 
gates, looking to the four cardinal points of the com- 
pass — originally very thick and strong — are so decayed 
as to be useless. The necessity which gave origin 
both to the wall and the gates, viz. : the frequent 
attacks of pirates, seems to have passed entirely 
away. The people dwell securely without requiring 
these defences. Entering the western gate, we pass 
on through the principal street, followed by crowds 
of people, to whom we distribute books and tracts, 
until we come to the gate on the eastern side of the 
town. We here climb the wall, and strain our eyes 
to get a view of the sea, said to be visible in clear 
weather from this point ; but we cannot see it. De- 
scending, we retrace our steps to the largest temple 
in the place, inviting the people in the shops and 
streets as we pass along to come and hear us preach. 
This temple is situated near the gate at which we at 
first entered. Going in through a spacious, open 
court, we mounted a table four feet high, directly in 
front of the great idol whom the inhabitants regard 
as the protecting divinity of the city. Here my com- 
panion first, plainly and faithfully, proclaims to the 
assembled throng the vanity and guilt of their super- 
stitious customs ; and I followed him, exhorting them 
to forsake their false gods and deceiving priests ; to 
repent of their wickedness, and earnestly pray to the 
only living and true God to pardon their sins solely 
on the merit of his son Jesus Christ, who came from 



248 FIYE YEARS IN CHINA. 

heaven to earth, and died for all mankind — for the 
" middle country people," as well as for those who 
lived in the " outside country." After enlarging in 
this manner upon the leading doctrines of the Bible, 
we left them, having disposed of all our tracts ; and 
then returned to our little skiff; still followed by a 
number of men and boys to whom we have promised 
books on reaching the small boat, in which we had 
left the bag. We redeem this promise, wake up our 
boatman, who has been regaling himself with a nap 
in our absence, and in a little time have our faces 
toward Shanghai. The wind is blowing fresh, and 
in our favor, too ; so making our umbrellas serve the 
double purpose of shade and sails, we get back to 
our own boat in less than half the time we consumed 
in passing over the same distance two hours before. 
It is now two o'clock, and our dinner is brought in 
requisition ; while our boatmen labor at the oar with 
a good will, that shows they are right glad to turn 
their faces homeward. "We put up our cold beef and 
bread, somewhat diminished in quantity you may be 
sure. Seating myself on the small deck in the front 
part of the boat, I take out my paper and pencil and 
prepare this sketch, while my friend is inside reading. 
I place a few tracts by my side, to give to persons on 
the boats which we are constantly meeting. They 
will always steer near enough to us, to enable them 
to reach the books as we hold them out. In several 
instances, they turn their boats entirely around, to 
pick up tracts which had accidentally fallen into the 
water, as I was trying to hand them across. In some 
few cases, the boats are passing too swiftly, and the 
wind is so high that they cannot return to get them, 



INCIDENTS. 249 

so the tracts remain in the canal where they drop 
from our hands. But even these, we do not consider 
lost ; for I thought possibly that beautiful promise, 
" Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find 
it after many days," might have a literal fulfillment 
in regard to some of these messengers of truth — these 
silent, yet eloquent preachers — these Christian tracts : 
for, perhaps some one will pick up that book he sees 
floating in the water — read it to the salvation of his 
soul, and tell others to the salvation of theirs. "Who 
can tell? Not thrown away — not lost — no, by no 
means. Would I could scatter millions of them on 
the waters, coursing throughout this vast empire ! 

Night at length comes on, and an hour after dark 
we reach home. 



11* 



CHAPTEK XX. 



Chinese New Year again — Making Calls — Sending Presents — Fire- 
works — Kitchen gods — Visit from Schools — A benevolent Mer- 
chant — His Almoner — Spinning — An incident — Gratitude — Difficul- 
ties — Hope — Probable destiny of Shanghai — Drought — Procession 
of Rain Dragons — Chinese Theory of Rain — Proclamation — Solem- 
nities — Crops. 

The Chinese new year, beginning with the first 
day of the first moon after the sun enters Aquarius, 
occurs this year on the 20th of February. It is the 
great holiday of the Chinese people, and so far as 
cessation from labor is concerned, may be called their 
annual Sabbath, for it is the only season in the whole 
year in which the shops are closed, and business of 
all kinds is universally suspended. It does, in fact, 
impress you strongly as a resemblance to a Sabbath 
in a Christian land, until you come to one of the 
numerous temples and shrines, when the illusion, if 
you w r ere indulging it, is at once dispelled by the 
painful sight of multitudes prostrating themselves 
before hideous images of clay and wood, and burn- 
ing incense sticks, wax candles and gilt or tin-foiled 
paper, to propitiate these imaginary deities. 

Several of my Chinese friends called to pay their 
respects. Among them Tsang, the teacher of one of 



251 

my native schools, made his appearance, followed by 
his pupils — thirteen intelligent looking, fat, happy 
little boys, and two little girls. As soon as they saw 
me, they all clasped their hands, and, bowing re- 
spectfully, repeated the phrase common on such oc- 
casions — " koong shee, koong shee " — " congratulate, 
congratulate." I distributed some oranges and dates 
among them, and gave each a pictorial tract or 
primer. Their bright eyes and rosy faces gleamed 
with delight, and they exclaimed: "too zeah, Tay 
seen-sang, too zeah, Tay seen-sang" " many thanks, 
Taylor, teacher — many thanks, Taylor teacher" and 
tripped away to the school room again in high glee. 
The practice of making " new-year's calls," is car- 
ried on extensively throughout this empire, and can 
boast an antiquity of some thousands of years. It 
has, however, a different name. It is called " wor- 
shipping the year." On this occasion, when a China- 
man meets a friend, either at his house or in the 
stfeets, each clasps his own hands, instead of the 
others, and bows his head almost to the ground, very 
slowly and ceremoniously, a number of times. As 
this operation must always be performed at this sea- 
son with due precision and solemnity, wherever one 
chances to meet his friends, the narrow streets are 
sometimes quite obstructed, when two scrupulously 
polite personages fall in each other's way on a public 
thoroughfare. 

It is also a great occasion for sending presents — 
very often, I know from personal observation — for the 
express purpose of getting one of greater value in 
return. For instance, a Chinaman sends you a ham 
or a shoulder of mutton, a fowl or two, and some 



252 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

vegetables and fruit. You may be sure he lias hi s 
eye upon something of yours, and if you are at all 
slow in taking the hint, he begins to admire your 
watch, perchance, and intimates in no unequivocal 
terms, that it would be acceptable as a return for his 
present. This polite way of begging is, perhaps, 
more extensively practised in their intercourse with 
foreigners, than among themselves ; though it is by 
no means certain that it does not prevail as widely in 
the native circles. 

This season is also the " Fourth of July" or " Christ- 
mas" of Chinese boys, and for several days preceding 
and following the first day of the new year, the in- 
cessant popping of fire-crackers, " double headers," 
et id genus omne, would almost make one fancy him- 
self in the Park at New York on the " Fourth," or in 
Charleston on Christmas-day, if he could only shut his 
eyes to the scenes around him. The nights, too, are 
illumined by sky-rockets, Koman candles, miniature 
volcanoes, and the like ; but all, far inferior to the 
displays of pyrotechny in the United States. 

The twenty-third of the last month in the year is 
an important day among these idolaters. In every 
house there is placed over the cooking range a rude 
figure coarsely painted on a bit of paper. This is 
called the kitchen-god, and is set up at the beginning 
of each year, and is supposed to take cognizance of 
everything that passes in the family during the year. 
Then, at its close, the paper kitchen-god is taken 
down from his niche in the wall, and placed on a 
table, though more frequently allowed to remain in 
his customary place, and feasted upon small balls 
made of rice-flour, oranges, walnuts, and some other 



253 

products of the vegetable kingdom ; but no animal 
food. 

In addition to these, a very adhesive kind of candy 
is placed before his godship, made in the form of 
Spanish dollars and lumps of Sycee silver. The de- 
sign of this shape is to promote the increase of wealth 
in the family, and the design of the sticking quality 
of the candy, is to seal the lips of the god when he is 
sent up to the chief of the Chinese celestial deities to 
report the conduct of the different members of the 
family during the past year ; so that when he is ques- 
tion, he cannot open his lips to relate the deviations 
from rectitude he may have observed, but can only 
nod nis head, which is taken as signifying that all 
have behaved well in the family where he presided. 
But how is he sent up to heaven? After having 
been duly feasted and worshipped, he is put into a 
kind of pan, with some incense sticks and gilt paper, 
and the whole is set on fire. When all is consumed, 
the kitchen-god is supposed to have ascended to the 
skies, to the presence of the "Supreme Ruler" to 
render in his account with tens of thousands of his 
comrades from the swarming families of this vast 
empire. Truly, a sad picture of heathen degradation 
and superstitious credulity. 

Not many weeks since, a Christian gentleman in 
the mercantile community, sent me an order on the 
house with which he was connected, for twenty-five 
dollars, with a request that I would use it to procure 
"creature comforts" for some of the more needy 
among the Chinese, who might come under my ob- 
servation. He feared he should be imposed upon, 
and bestow his charity upon unworthy objects, if he 



254 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

attempted to distribute it himself, which would most 
likely have been the case, for the street beggars which 
throng Shanghai present a sufficiently pitiable aspect 
to move the hardest heart, while in reality they are 
the least deserving of the many poor in this populous 
country, and my benevolent friend would not probably 
have fallen in with those of any other description. I 
cheerfully consented to become his almoner, being 
acquainted with many to whom his aid would be 
most timely and acceptable. See, then, the writer — 
himself a comfortable-looking specimen of humanity 
— set out on his errand with some of the dollars in 
his pocket. He goes first to a poor widow among 
his neighbors, across the bridge from his house. He 
finds her spinning cotton thread to be woven into 
cloth. The Chinese spinning wheel is something like 
those we have in America for spinning yarn, except 
that it is much smaller, more like a " flax-wheel." It 
is worked by both feet, on a treadle, and has three 
spindles instead of one. It is exceedingly simple and 
primitive in its construction, and answers its purpose 
remarkably well. But you may depend upon it, it 
would puzzle our worthy spinsters at home to hold 
those three rolls in their fingers and work that treadle 
with their feet The poor woman's face brightens 
with a smile as she sees her visitor, for he is an old 
acquaintance, and she salutes him civilly in one of 
the usual forms, Tay seen-sang, haw lah vah f — which 
is equivalent to Mr. Taylor, are you well ? — and in- 
vites him to be seated. She has but one child, a 
plump, fat, rosy-faced little fellow, whom his mother 
tells to come to me and give me the same salutation. 
One of the very first things Chinese children are 



255 

taught, is to step boldly forward and address in this 
manner every visitor as soon as he enters the house. 
It would sometimes appear rude to us, but is a mark 
of civility with them. So, of course, we must re- 
ceive it for what it is designed, as an evidence of 
good breeding; just as we do the opposite conduct 
of children in the United States, who do not put 
themselves forward to speak to a stranger until he 
first speaks to them. The Chinese, as you know, are 
our opposites in almost everything, some of which we 
noted in a former chapter. Well, the little chubby 
boy came and spoke to me, as his mother had directed, 
and we had a most friendly chat together, when a 
dollar was put into his hand, and he was told to take 
it to his mother. He did so ; and it would be a diffi- 
cult matter to decide which of the two faces looked 
brighter, the happy mother's or the happy child's. 
If you had been there, you would have said, which, 
of the three — for you would have had that of their 
happy visitor to- add to the group, and he probably 
the happiest of the trio. The poor widow expressed 
her gratitude in the strongest terms she could com- 
mand, when the visitor seized the opportunity to im- 
press upon her mind the fact that it was the love of 
Jesus that induced a benevolent gentleman to give 
me this money for her, and others in distress, and 
that _she should thank the true God in heaven, who 
had put it into his heart to be so kind. She then 
began to exclaim, " thanks to the true God — thanks 
to the true God ;" for when the money was first put 
into her hands, she repeated the name of Buddha 
several times, using the common expression, " O-me- 
too-veh! O-me-too-veh !" as is the habit of these 



256 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA 

miserable idolaters when they meet with any piece 
of good fortune. She was informed this was wrong, 
and directed to thank the only " Giver of every good 
and every perfect gift," which she w r as ready enough 
to do with her lips, from the joy of the moment, but 
without any satisfactory evidence of a real change in 
her views or feelings. 

This is also the case in numberless instances where 
the natives tell us they believe the " Jesus doctrines;" 
for they are often quite willing to admit the reason- 
ableness of the religion we preach, and its vast supe- 
riority over their ow r n senseless superstitions. And 
yet so strong, so deeply-rooted are the latter in their 
minds and hearts — so interwoven with their very ex- 
istence, that it is an exceedingly difficult thing to in- 
duce them, in any instance, to abandon those idola- 
trous notions, and embrace heartily and fully, the 
confessedly better system, and walk in the " more ex- 
cellent way," which we point out to them. On one 
occasion a poor woman told me she wished to believe 
in Jesus. Said I, " why do you wish to become a 
believer in Jesus?" "Oh, because," she replied, 
" then I shall have rice to eat and clothes to wear." 
In her simplicity she could discover no impropriety 
in the motive she assigned. We have but too strong 
reasons to believe the motive is still the same in most 
cases, though the applicant usually has enough art to 
conceal it. 

They take our books and tracts readily enough too, 
and often very eagerly ; but one must not suppose 
from this that a longing desire exists for the truths of 
Christianity. There is no such thing. On the con- 
trary, they care nothing about the new religion. 



257 

being perfectly satisfied with their own absurd fan- 
cies and fabulous traditions, that have the recom- 
mendation, which to the Chinese mind is superior to 
all others — that of antiquity. Is the question then 
asked, why then are they so desirous of Christian 
books, and such attentive and apparently inter 
ested listeners to the preaching of the Gospel ? The 
answer is short and simple. They are attracted 
by their novelty, without being affected by their 
excellence and power. But we can and do, take 
advantage of this very feeling of mere curiosity to 
make them acquainted with the truth, and this is 
our hope. Truth — the mighty eternal truth of God, 
is becoming, every day that rolls over this multitudi- 
nous empire, more and more widely disseminated, 
known, and understood, and when the Holy Spirit 
shall descend, this accumulated mass of divine truth 
will be the agency through which it will reach their 
hearts, and so a nation may "be born in a day." 
The prospect and certain arrival of this day is our 
encouragement to labor on, in striving to scatter the 
light of scripture truth far and wide among the dark- 
ened millions of this pagan land. 

The predictions concerning the commercial import- 
ance of this port over all others in China, are fast 
receiving their fulfillment. It is destined to become 
the chief seat of foreign commerce in China, and the 
principal point of intercourse between the Pacific 
States and the Middle Kingdom. It does not require 
a prophet's ken, or the sagacity of a statesman, to 
predict the position for Shanghai. Occupying a po- 
sition about midway on the eastern coast of this em- 
pire — being the point from which channels of com- 



258 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

mnnication diverge to its chief cities, and being the 
port nearest and of most convenient access from the 
western coast of America, its destiny is manifest, and 
its march toward it rapid and sure. The amount of 
tonnage now in our harbor is greater by about Hive 
thousand tons than at any former period, and this 
will doubtless be greatly increased when the tea sea- 
son is fairly opened. Many crops have been gathered, 
and are now on their way to Shanghai, but have been 
prevented reaching this place from the scarcity of 
water in the canals that intersect this vast level region 
for a hundred miles or more, about the mouth of the 
Yang-tsz-kiang. 

This want of water is owing to a drought that still 
prevails throughout all this section of country. It 
has already been injurious, and it is feared will prove 
destructive, to the rice crop. There has been a rise 
in the price of this staple article of food, and the 
people have been so apprehensive of a famine that a 
few days ago hundreds from different parts of this 
district formed themselves into a procession, carrying 
twenty eight figures of dragons, with hideous heads, 
made of paper, painted, and with bodies of coarse 
cotton cloth stretched over hoops and frames of bam- 
boo. The several lengths or points composing the 
serpentine body were about the size of a barrel, and 
of some odd number — five, seven, or nine. Each of 
these lengths is held horizontally about three feet 
above the head, by means of a stick, and carried in 
this position by a single individual. They all so 
move their sticks as to communicate an undulating 
motion to the whole, giving the appearance of a large 
serpent crawling over their heads. 



259 

These dragons were designed to represent the dra- 
gons which the Chinese believe dwell in the skies, but 
descend into seas and oceans, and carrying thence 
water up to the clouds, spout it forth again, thus caus- 
ing rain. What say our philosophers and storm- 
kings to this Chinese theory of rain ? I venture to 
say it will possess to some of them a recommendation 
which, though questionable, is yet the only one that 
many other theories are found to have — that of 
novelty. 

Carrying these twenty-eight personifications of the 
rain monsters, the procession went to the office of the 
district magistrate of Shanghai, beating gongs and 
cymbals, and calling vehemently for him to come 
and give an account for his remissness in duty, in- 
quiring at the same time if he was not aware of the 
drought prevailing through the bounds of his juris- 
diction. The Chinese invariably attribute drought, 
pestilence, famine, and similar calamities, to some 
misconduct of the emperor, the rulers, or the people 
themselves, at which heaven is angry, and visits them 
with punishments. 

The mandarin, or mayor of this district, replied 
that he had been apprised of the fact, and had prayed 
to heaven to send rain. They then informed him 
that they had come a distance of several miles, and 
were hungry, whereupon he ordered refreshments of 
tea and cakes for them, and presented to them a 
string of 1,000 " cash," for each of the twenty-eight 
dragons, to be distributed among the men carrying 
them. The crowd then dispersed, and the magistrates 
forthwith issued a proclamation, according to the 
usual custom, prohibiting the slaying of animals for 



260 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

food, for the space of three days, during which time 
all the mandarins in the city were to repair to the 
temples, worship the idols, and pray for rain — on the 
first day once, on the second twice, and on the third 
thrice. Subsequently, the time was extended indefi- 
nitely, till rain fell. 

Fishermen are also forbidden to ply their avoca- 
tion, during these days of abstinence and humilia- 
tion ; but they are provided with rice, for food, out 
of the public treasury. Up to the time of this 
drought the year has been a remarkably abundant 
one — the wheat, barley, and rye crops having been 
full, and well harvested. The cotton plants, so far, 
continue healthy — not requiring much rain at this 
stage of their growth. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Taking boat— Disguise— The " Gem Hill City " — " Pheasant Mound " 
— Variety of Junks and Boats — Grain Junks — Timber — Canals — 
Bridges — Temples — Pagodas — " Great Lake " — " Lion Hills " — 
" Hill Pools "— " Tiger Den Hill "— " Thousand Men Rock "—Beau- 
tiful Shops and Streets — Return to Shanghai. 

One Monday night in November, 1850, two foreign- 
ers and one native Chinese, might have been seen 
wending their way along a well beaten path leading 
to bridge across the Wu-sung-kiang. This stream is 
more familiarly known to the foreign community at 
Shanghai as the " Su-chau Creek," and is about sixty 
yards wide. It comes in from the west, and unites 
with the Hwang-pu a half a mile north of the city. 
The Hwang-pu, it will be remembered, is quite a 
river, having a northerly direction, and empties into 
the great Yang-tsz-kiang about twelve miles, in a 
right line, north from Shanghai, but eighteen miles 
by the river itself. It is navigable for vessels of the 
largest class up to the city, which is situated on its 
western bank. 

A walk of two miles brought us to our boat at the 
bridge. We had provisioned ourselves for a week's 
absence, intending to visit the far-famed city of Su- 
chau. This -place is regarded by the Chinese as the 



262 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

terrestrial paradise. Thej have a proverb which 
says, " above is heaven ; on earth, Su-chau and Hang- 
chau.' And another — " to be happy on earth, one 
must be born in Su-chau, live in Canton, and die at 
Liau-chau," — the first being remarkable for the per- 
sonal beauty of its inhabitants ; the second for the 
richness and variety of its luxuries ; and the third 
for the excellence of its coffins. 

I had been invited by my companion on the last 
excursion, Rev. J. Edkins, to accompany him on a 
visit of observation to this celebrated city. This 
could only be done in disguise ; and accordingly, we 
had furnished ourselves with the various articles of 
Chinese dress — tail and all. 

About midnight, taking the tide at flood, our boat 
was unmoored, and following the serpentine wind- 
ings of the creek for some seventeen miles in a west- 
erly direction, came to a small town called Wong-du, 
the ' ' Ferry of the Wong family." 

This is about the extent of tide water, and from 
this place onward into the interior, you find the 
canals uniformly full. The water, too, becomes quite 
clear, presenting a very grateful appearance to eyes 
accustomed to the daily ebb and flow of the muddy 
contents of the Yang-tsz-kiang. Fifty-three miles 
from Shanghai, you reach Kwung-san — the " Gem 
Hill " — a walled town, deriving its name from an 
abrupt hill at its northern extremity, but w T ithin the 
wall. 

This wall incloses a large space of ground, not 
more than half of which is occupied by buildings. 
Entering one of the two gates on the bank of the 
canal you pass through very dirty, narrow streets for 



A TRIP TO SU-CHAU. 263 

two miles to the bill. As the place is seldom visited 
by foreigners, your presence is the signal for a gala- 
day for the town, and crowds of men and boys follow 
you, and obstruct your path unless you walk fast 
enough to keep in advance of the motley multitude, 
which you will find very convenient, and not at all 
difficult to do. We found opportunity at the same 
time, to distribute hundreds of tracts, both to people 
in the streets, and in the shops, as we passed along. 

On arriving at the hill, there is a continuous flight 
of steps to the top, on which stands an old temple, 
and near it a much dilapidated pagoda, seven stories 
high. This hill and another small elevation, the 
Yah-ke-tung, the " Wild Chicken " (or " Pheasant), 
Mound " — are the only variations to relieve the un- 
broken level from Shanghai to Su-chau. 

From the manner of its construction, you cannot 
ascend the pagoda ; but from the second floor of the 
temple, which has four windows opening toward the 
four points of the compass, you have a fine view of 
the surrounding country for many miles. On a clear 
day, " The Hills " to the southeast, thirty miles west 
of Shanghai, and those beyond Su-chau, far away to 
the westward, are distinctly visible. After feasting 
our eyes upon this beautiful prospect, we descended the 
hill, and both of us preached in a temple at its foot, 
to a large and attentive throng. Then returning to 
our boat, we resumed our journey. 

A few miles from Kwung-san, the canal, hitherto 
so winding in its course, becomes nearly a straight 
line for about twenty miles up to the very gates of 
Su-chau. One can form but an inadequate idea of 
the amount of intercourse daily carried on between 



264 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

Shanghai and Su-chau, without passing along this 
great thoroughfare himself. You would have a pe- 
culiarly favorable opportunity for observing this, 
should there be a fair wind, and your boat, as ours 
was, without a sail. For, besides the hundreds you 
meet, you would have the pleasure of seeing them in 
equal numbers, pass by you continually, going in the 
same direction as yourself, and presently they are out 
of sight without moving an oar, while your own boat, 
with three or four stout, lusty fellows, sculling away 
with all their might, " drags its slow length along." 

Leaving Shanghai several hours later than our- 
selves, with a fair wind and favorable tide, they 
probably reached Su-chau the same evening. We did 
not arrive until noon the next day (Wednesday), our 
boatmen having worked nearly all night; on the 
morning of this day we disguised ourselves in the 
native costume, and passed on to the city. The canal 
is lined with shops and hongs on either side, for a 
mile before you come to the wall, which is about 
thirty-five feet high, and three feet thick at the top. 
It is built of very large, slate-colored brick, has a 
strong embankment of earth thrown up against its 
inner surface, and is surrounded by a moat from one 
to three hundred feet wide. 

In the vicinity of each gate, this moat or canal is 
filled' with boats of every description, from the impe- 
rial "grain-junks" down to small fishing boats. The 
size and number of the former are very great, and 
most of them are never removed from Su-chau. These 
are enormous, clumsy, flat-bottomed vessels of great 
capacity, stationed to the number of " ten thousand " 
throughout the empire, for the purpose of receiving 



A TRIP TO StT-CHAU. 265 

a certain proportion of the rice raised in the several 
provinces, to be sent annually to Peking as tribute to 
the emperor. "We saw hundreds that had decayed 
and sunk near the banks of the moat, nearly lining it 
all around the city. The waste of the imperial reve- 
nue is more manifest in these tribute-junks, than in 
anything else we have yet observed in China. Built 
at an expense of several thousands of dollars each, 
they are abandoned in three or four years as useless, 
and are suffered to go to pieces. We were told the 
emperor has directed them to be given to the poor 
for firewood, in years of scarcity. The mandarins, 
however, and their numerous underlings, take good 
care to punish any one who dares avail himself of the 
royal bounty ; but sell them, and pocket the proceeds. 

On the north side of the city, two-thirds of the 
width of the moat are occupied, for a mile or two, 
with vast quantities of timber for building, mostly 
long, slender, round sticks, made into rafts, and on 
the banks opposite are the wood hongs. With this 
timber on one side, and the grain-junks lying along 
the bank close under the wall on the other, there is 
left but a narrow channel for the passage of boats. 

The wall of Su-chau is ten or twelve English miles 
in circumference, and has six gates at equal distances 
apart, which gives a space of two miles from any one 
of them to the next. 

We directed our boatmen to take us to the one 
looking toward the north — the Tze-mung — " Even 
gate" as we learned from our guide that the princi- 
pal objects of interest to strangers, were more easily 
accessible from this, than from the one toward the 
east, which is the first, as you approach from Shang- 

12 



FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

hai. Here we stopped, and sending for sedans, soon 
found ourselves passing through the triple gate, 
eighteen or twenty feet high, into the city. 

We were borne rapidly through streets of about 
the same width and general appearance as those of 
Shanghai, before described, with two exceptions — 
they were better paved, and far more cleanly. The 
city is intersected in every direction by numerous 
canals of clear water, alive with boats passing to and 
fro. The streets are continued across these canals by 
means of handsome arched bridges of well-hewn 
granite, thirty or forty feet high. Generally they 
consist of a single splendid arch, which spans ' the 
canal at one sweep. 

We were first carried to the Yeu-miau-Jcwan — the 
largest temple in Su-chau. The name signifies 
"abstruse contemplation" and it belongs to the 
Tauist sect. "We went through it, above and below, 
saw its hundreds of gilded images standing around 
its walls, and conversed with its numerous priests, to 
some of whom we gave tracts. It has three stories, is 
not far from a hundred feet high, and about two hun- 
dred long at the base. A wide, open court, separates 
it from a smaller one, through which you enter. It 
is said to contain more than five hundred idols. The 
approach to it is through a spacious bazaar, covered 
with roofs supported by wooden posts, and open on 
all sides. Here are exposed for sale a great variety 
of wares, the chief of which, at the time we passed, 
were china-ware, pictures and toys. 

We next visited the Ching-hwang-miau — the 
11 City Guardian *s Temple" — a large edifice, but 
much smaller than the one we had just left. It may 



A TRIP TO SU-CHAU. 267 

be a hundred feet by fifty on the ground, and fifty 
feet high. Its roof, which is very steep, occupied in 
height one half )f the entire building, and has its 
four corners projecting and curved upward, with 
small bells hanging from them, as you have often 
seen represented in pictures. The interior is but one 
apartment, having the "Three Precious Buddhas" — 
three large, richly carved, and gilt idols in a sitting 
posture, occupying the middle, while some forty 
others, a little larger than the human form, stood 
around the sides. 

Thence we were carried to the Po-sz-tah — the 
"North Temple Pagoda" — the tallest of the four or 
five pagodas within the walls of the city. It has nine 
stories, and is nearly two hundred feet high. We 
ascended to the top w 7 hich commands a fine pano- 
ramic view of the country for thirty or forty miles 
around. Just below you, on every side, is a sea of 
tiled roofs, so closely crowded together and so uni- 
form in height, that they actually resemble the waves 
of the sea. Here and there a temple or a pagoda 
rising above them, are the only objects that break 
the monotony of their appearance. You may trace 
the wall threading its course among them, bounding 
the extent of the city in some places, but in others 
the buildings extend far beyond it. We were told 
that half of Su-chau was outside the wall, and our 
own observation seemed to justify the remark. 

Off to the southeast, the beautiful lake Ta-oo — 
"Great Lake" — lay spread out before you, and on the 
west, a noble range of hills or mountains stretches 
far away toward the setting sun. By far the greater 
part of the landscape, however, is a highly cultivated 



268 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

level plain, divided by innumerable streams, running 
in all directions, like lines of silver gleaming in the 
sunlight, and threading their way throughout the 
wide-spread scene, till lost in the distant horizon. 

We took a reluctant leave of this magnificent 
view, and next went to the Sz-tsz-ling — The "Lion 
Hills''' — so called from the resemblance said to exist 
between the form of the rocks and this animal ; but 
it requires a stronger imagination than mine to dis- 
cover the likeness. It is a garden, containing a few 
trees, a small temple, a pool crossed in several places 
by bridges, and huge piles of artificial rock-work, 
threaded in every possible direction by the most in- 
tricate and puzzling paths, which led you winding 
about among grottoes and caverns, and formed a per- 
fect labyrinth. 

From this we returned to our boat and went along 
the San-dong — " Hill pools" — a noted canal, densely 
crowded on both sides with shops. In the western 
suburbs is a hill call Hu-keu-san — "Tiger den hill" — 
which is surmounted by a temple and a pagoda seven 
stories high. Turning out of the canal into one less 
frequented, we stopped at the foot of the hill and 
walked up its steep, solitary path. Entering through 
a narrow, arched gateway between two buildings, we 
were suddenly ushered into a large, open court, ex- 
ceeding in wild, romantic beauty, anything we have 
before seen in China. 

The immense rock forming the irregular floor of 
the area has successfully resisted the attempts of the 
artisans whose sacrilegious hands would reduce to a 
dull plane this noble piece of nature's workmanship. 
One part of it rises perpendicularly two or three feet 



A TRIP TO ST7-CHAU. 269 

above the surrounding portion, and is called Che- 
niung-sah — "Thousand men rock" because it is said 
a thousand men can stand at one time upon its sur- 
face. In another part are natural basins filled with 
limpid water, and in others still, are enormous trees 
of rare and richly varied foliage, growing from large 
crevices in the rock. A long flight of wide steps of 
hewn stone, conducts you to the main temple. 

Passing through this into a second court, paved 
with brick, and turning to the left you enter another 
temple, directly in the rear of which stands the 
pagoda. It is in quite a decayed state, still you can 
reach the top by means of a time-worn staircase, 
which, in one place, is entirely gone ; but its absence 
is supplied by a ladder, and the prospect from the 
summit will amply repay your efforts in reaching it. 
You have the same grand panoramic view as from 
the pagoda within the city, but from a different point 
of observation. Seeing it by moonlight, strongly 
tempts one to be sentimental ; but we must leave the 
imagination of the reader to supply our deficiency in 
this respect, according to his own taste and fancy, 
while we betake ourselves to the more necessary and 
sensible employment of sleep. 

On Thursday morning, after a second visit to the 
temple and pagoda on the hill, we returned in our 
boat to the Tsang-mung — the principal gate on the 
west side of the city. "Within this gate you will find 
the finest shops and streets. Here, the buildings are 
two stories high, and their projecting eaves nearly 
meet, as in all other Chinese towns, the streets being 
only about eight feet wide. 

The shops, generally, are very narrow in front, but 



270 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

very deep, and the greatest possible number crowded 
together. The elegantly lettered and gilded shop 
signs, the display of embroidery, far exceeding in 
richness and splendor any we had ever seen ; to- 
gether with paintings, lacquered ware, lanterns, 
clothing, and the various other articles of Chinese 
manufacture, give the streets, crowded with human 
beings, a very gay and animated appearance. 

"We went into several shops, made two or three 
insignificant purchases, and returned to our boat 
highly gratified with the result of our visit, and soon 
were on our way back to Shanghai, making the cir- 
cuit of the wall on our return. 

We laid aside our disguise and.. put on our own 
dress while yet within sight of the gates of Su-chau, 
and were, as might be expected, objects of no little 
curiosity to the multitudes in the houses and shops, 
on both sides of the canal, for a mile, as we stood on 
the deck of our boat. We were the first Protestant 
Missionaries who ever visited this celebrated city, 
and were probably the first foreigners the natives had 
ever seen in foreign attire. 

Not the slightest disposition to molest us was man- 
ifested, nor do we think there would have been had 
we entered the city undisguised ; but the multitudes 
collecting around us for curiosity, would have effect- 
ually impeded our progress at the very outset, and 
thus defeated the objects of our visit. As it was, our 
disguise was far from being complete, for, not liking 
to submit to the inconvenience of having our heads 
shaved, we attached our queues and concealed our 
hair as well as might be without it. Several times 
as we passed along the streets and into the temples, 



A TKIP TO SU-CHAU. 271 

we heard persons say, " they are foreigners — they are 
foreigners ;" then others would reply, " no, they are 
not foreigners — they have queues — foreigners have 
no queues!" So, although strongly suspected, we 
met with no interruption. Su-chau is about eighty 
miles distant from Shanghai, and it covers an area 
three or four times greater in extent. "We have no 
means of ascertaining the amount of the population. 
Various estimates have been given, from one to five 
millions. We are inclined to agree with those who 
suppose it not far from two millions, including those 
living in the suburbs and in boats. 

We stopped at a small village on the canal, six 
miles from Su-chau, and distributed tracts to the 
eager and astonished natives. On the next day, Fri- 
day, we made a second halt at another and larger 
one, called Zoh-Jcia-pang, the "Zoh family's creek" — 
where we gave away many more tracts, and both of 
us preached again to one of the most attentive 
crowds we ever addressed. By giving the boatmen 
a few hundred cash extra to work all night, we got 
within three miles of Shanghai early on Saturday 
morning, and walked home to a breakfast, which re- 
ceived ample justice at our hands. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 

Worship of Ancestors — Paper Money — Offerings to the Dead — A 
Wailing Widow— Shallow Grief— The " God of Wealth"— Offerings 
to it — Its Temple — "Man's Birthday" — The "Five Grains" — 
"Fuel" — "Rice" — " Mandarin's Day" — Influx of Paupers — " Open- 
ing the Seals" — Modes of asserting Innocence and Detecting Guilt 
— Forms of Oaths — Gods lose their Reputation — Practice of Weigh- 
ing annually on the first day of Summer-^Departure of Family 
for the United States. 

April 10, 1851. — "We are in the midst of the annual 
season for making offerings to ancestors. For several 
days, pieces of thin yellow paper, cnt so as to resem- 
ble the form of the common coin of China — copper 
cash — but joined at the edges, have been fluttering 
in the wind, from the tops of the thousands of grave- 
stones and graves in every direction, far and near. 
A path three feet wide separates our premises from a 
more thickly tenanted grave-field than you ever saw 
in America, and more than you ever can see in any 
other country but China. Roughly hewn pieces of 
light colored granite, ten inches wide, two feet high 
above the ground, and rudely carved with characters 
signifying the name, age, and native province of the 
deceased, together with the name of the emperor 
reigning at the time of the demise — stones of this 
description stand at the head of nearly every grave. 



SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 273 

The field of death, in the midst of which we live, be- 
longs to a tribe or clan, from a province far south- 
ward from this place, called Foh-kien. They are a 
more active, intelligent, energetic race of men than 
the people of the northern provinces, and withal 
more fierce and warlike. Most of the native com- 
merce of Shanghai is carried on by Foh-kien mer- 
chants, whom you cannot distinguish by anything in 
their costumes from other Chinese in affluent or easy 
circumstances all over the empire. But the Foh-kien 
sailors wear an unmistakable badge of distinction. 
It is a heavy turban of black cotton cloth. Here 
comes one now, with quite a large basket in his 
hand, followed by a companion with a straw basket 
made something like a straw bee-hive, in shape and 
size. It is filled w T ith gilt paper. He puts it down 
near the head of a grave, and sets the whole on fire, 
with the belief that when it is consumed, his friend in 
the spirit-world immediately receives it, transformed 
into an earthen jar of corresponding dimensions, and 
filled with money. Now he takes the cover from the 
basket on his arm, which contains a half dozen or 
more tea-cups and plates — the former he fills with 
wine and sets them in a row before the headstone, 
then he places the plates in a second row behind 
them. The latter contain boiled rice, pork, fish, ve- 
getables, fruits, preserves, etcetera, differing in quality 
and variety, according to the ability of the individual 
providing them. When his offering is thus arranged, 
he steps a pace or two backward, and bows lowly and 
reverently toward the stone, praying the ghost of his 
departed friend or relative, to give him a prosperous 
voyage back to his native province. After allowing 

12* 



274 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

his dishes to remain a few minutes, he replaces them 
in his basket, and carries them away to regale him- 
self with the substance of the food, believing that 
the spirit of the dead has feasted to satiety on the 
fumes. Perhaps the poor fellow was not able to pur- 
chase the articles used on the occasion, and has bor- 
rowed them for the purpose, at a premium of a few 
cash. If this be the case, he returns them to their 
rightful owner — the proprietor of an eating-house — 
when he has finished his devotions. 

The smoke of these idolatrous offerings is seen ris- 
ing from numberless mounds and graves, all over 
the face of this level country, as far as the eye can 
reach. The sounds of lamentation, too, fall upon 
your ear, wherever you go. See ! there is a woman 
with two or three little children, just come to that 
mound to have her customary annual wailing. She 
has burnt her straw jar of paper money, and now 
stands near and begins her mourning. She has 
brought a female companion along with her to hold 
her from falling, while she indulges her excessive 
grief. Her cries are piercing enough to reach the 
heart of the most unfeeling, did you not know they 
were " gotten up " expressly for the occasion. But 
it is about the driest crying you ever saw. She wipes 
her eyes and face, but there are no tears. She strug- 
gles and tries to fall, because she knows she cannot, 
while her friend holds her by the arm. Should her 
attendant let her go, and allow her to fall, you would 
see an animated exhibition of a passion somewhat 
different from grief. But her lament has ceased, and 
they all walk coolly away, talking and laughing as 
merrily as you can well imagine. 



SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 275 

Ancestral worship lias a stronger hold upon the 
minds and hearts of this singular people than the 
worship of idols, and we shall doubtless find it one 
of the last strongholds of Satan to be given up. Di- 
vided into three numerous sects (Buddhists, Tauists, 
and Confucianists), they are all united in this one 
practice of paying divine honors to their deceased 
ancestors. I have made it the subject of my public 
teaching for some days ; but while nearly all admit 
the force of my reasoning, they will cleave as tena- 
ciously as ever to their delusion. We find one en- 
couragement, however, to persevere, in the assurances 
of the word of God, that the days of heathen super- 
stition are numbered, and sooner or later it must fall, 
before the onward coming of the all-victorious Im- 
manuel. 

You need not come to China to learn that there is 
such a divinity as Money, but perhaps you are not 
aware that the fifth day of the first month in the 
Chinese calendar is celebrated by the natives as the 
birth-day of the god of wealth. The devotees of this 
deity spend the night preceding his birth-day, in 
burning red wax-candles, incense sticks, and gilt 
paper before his image, which is set up in their 
dwellings. A deafening din of those instruments so 
delightfully musical in Chinese estimation — gongs, 
drums, trumpets, cymbals, horns, and many others — 
forms a part of the homage paid to this idol, and is 
supposed to be particularly acceptable to him. They 
also place before it a variety of eatables, differing in 
quantity and value, according to the extent to which 
they have been blessed with the favors of this widely 
worshipped divinity. A pig's head, a sheep's head, 



276 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

and a live fish, together with certain fruits, are the 
offerings usually presented to him. Sometimes a 
whole pig and a whole sheep, killed and dressed, are 
placed before his shrine. The fish that one may see 
carried about the streets for sale in large wooden 
buckets of water, on the third and fourth days of 
this month, are designed expressly for this purpose. 
They are from eight inches to a foot and a half in 
length, and have a bit of thread passed through the 
fin on the back by which they are lifted out. 

The object of these ceremonies is to induce the 
potent deity fo come to their abodes and take up his 
residence with them for the coming year. The peo- 
ple believing, that if they can persuade him to com- 
ply with the invitation thus extended, they will 
assuredly succeed in their various enterprises for 
making money. The meats offered to the god on 
hisjiatal day, are cooked by the family on the mor- 
row, and guests are invited to the feast. Occasion- 
ally, the live fish is put into the river again and 
allowed to go scot-free. 

The temple of the god of wealth is situated on the 
first street leading eastward, after you enter the 
North Gate of the city. It was built by the money- 
brokers, and during the past year they have repaired 
and repainted the front part where plays are per- 
formed. The ceremonies at this temple are similar 
to those in private houses, only on a larger scale ; 
and plays are acted here on various occasions during 
the year in honor of this idol. 

The seventh day of the first month is called "man's 
birth-day" but the idea is not, as one would be led 
to suppose from the expression, the anniversary of 



SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 277 

the day on which the first man came into existence ; 
but is the day which is believed by the Chinese to 
determine the physical condition of the people dur- 
ing the whole year. They say, if the weather be 
fine on this day, there will be little sickness through- 
out the year; but if otherwise, disease will be pre- 
valent, and the mortality great. Judging from this 
criterion, the natives say the year will be six or 
seven parts favorable out of ten, inasmuch as a por- 
tion of the day was foul. In other words, that about 
three out of ten in the population will be afflicted 
with disease or death. 

The same is predicted of the "five grains" on the 
eighth day, that is of men on the seventh. If the 
day be fair, a year of plenty is looked for ; and if the 
contrary, a year of scarcity in the productions of the 
soil. Unfortunately for their prospects, the day was 
a very rainy and stormy one. When such is the 
case, the people console themselves with the more 
rational reflection that the year does not always take 
its gauge from the eighth day of the first month. 

The same superstitious ideas are extended to the 
ninth day also, with reference to fuel ; that if the 
weather be fine, this article will be abundant and 
cheap, and vice versa. So with regard to the rice 
crop in particular, on the tenth. 

Bice, though included in the " five kinds of grain," 
is of such preeminent importance in the sustenance 
of the people, that they have a day for it separately, 
and form their anticipations concerning the supply of 
the ensuing year from the atmospherical character of 
this day, the tenth of the first month. It was a very 
delightful one, the air being mild and pleasant and 



278 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

the sun shining brightly, after several days of cold, 
cloudy, and stormy weather. So, we suppose, the 
natives will have their hopes sufficiently elated con- 
cerning their rice crops, to counterbalance any de- 
pression they may have suffered on the eighth, the 
day of a heavy snow storm, w r hich was regarded by 
them, as you noticed above, the birth-day of the five 
kinds of grain. They group these four birth-days 
together and say, the seventh, man/ the eighth, 
grain/ the ninth, fuel/ the tenth, rice. 

The twelfth of the first month is called Mandarin's 
day. From the kind of weather on this day, the 
mandarins augur the probability and facility of their 
promotion to a higher rank ; and the literati, their 
prospects of success in obtaining degrees during the 
year. The twelfth of the first month, or the "first 
twelfth " being the day which terminates the fortunes 
of the mandarins and literary men ; the twelfth of 
the second month, or the u second twelfth " does the 
same for men engaged in trade ; and the twelfth of 
the third month, or the " third twelfth " for husband- 
men. 

Alas for the prospects of the scholars and officials, 
the day was a very rainy and disagreeable one. 

March 8. — Several hundreds, some say nine hun- 
dred, Chinese men, women, and children, from, the 
districts adjacent to the Yellow Biver, having left 
their homes in consequence of the destruction of their 
crop by the late inundation, came on Friday last, and 
encamped in three divisions near some temples out- 
side the Great South Gate. The mandarins hearing 
of this new and formidable reinforcement to the 
ranks of the beggar army of Shanghai, proceeded to 



SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 279 

the spot on Sunday and hired them to leave, at the 
rate of about one hundred cash per head. So on 
Monday morning they took up a line of march 
through the city, and came out at the North Gate. 
The line, as it passed along toward the Su-chau 
bridge, must have been a mile or more in length. 
The men, carrying each his two baskets of cooking 
utensils, scanty mats and rags, for bedding and cloth- 
ing, and a bundle or two of straw for fuel, all slung 
from a stick across his shoulder ; and in many in- 
stances, smiling infants were seen among the con- 
tents of the baskets. 

On the twentieth day of the first month, according 
to long established usage, the public offices were 
open for the transaction of business, having been 
closed since the twentieth of the last month of the 
old year. The native term for the event signifies 
" opening the seals." The people have a supersti- 
tious belief that all the affairs of the unseen world 
are suspended on the one and resumed on the other 
of these same days ; and the priests advertise the fact 
by proclamation to that effect, on long, narrow strips 
of red paper, pasted on the sides of the entrance to 
the temples of the deities presiding over matters in 
the infernal regions. 

A native adage for this day runs as follows : 

" If it rains on the twentieth of the first month 
Cotton will not yield one tan* to the mau\ 
But if the sun gleams out but once, 
Each mau will produce several tan." 

** A (an, or as foreigners call it, a picul, is 100 Chinese " kin n or 
"catties," or about 133 pounds avoirdupois. 

\ A mau is one-sixth of an English acre. The word is pro- 



280 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

The sun appeared for a short time among the clouds, 
and this, according to the above quoted saying, is 
quite a sufficient guaranty for an abundant crop. 

A few days ago, five men were seen for several 
mornings in succession, walking along some of the 
most frequented streets of Shanghai, in single file and 
bareheaded, kneeling and bowing their heads to the 
pavement, at every three steps. Each man carried a 
bunch of lighted incense sticks in one hand, and the 
foremost had on his back a large, square piece of 
yellow cotton cloth, on which characters were in- 
scribed, indicating their names, and setting forth 
that an individual, whose name was also given, had 
charged them with stealing a sum of money. 

These prostrations were performed by way of call- 
ing heaven and earth to witness that they were 
innocent of the crime alleged against them. On in- 
quiry, I learned that they went to the six gates of the 
city, going through the same ceremonies all the way, 
in order to give the greatest possible publicity to 
their protestations of innocence. The Chinese call 
this act Ran yin chwang, which implies making a 
statement of the facts in the case to the authorities of 
the invisible world, and imploring their interposition 
and aid. They have a superstitious belief that if the 
persons making this public and solemn avowal are, 
notwithstanding, guilty of the crime laid to their 
charge they will soon die, or be visited with some 
other signal punishment as a mark of the displeasure 
of Heaven. 

It is also quite common to hear them taking an 

nounced to rhyme with how. So are all other Chinese syllables 
represented in this book by the letters au. 



■ 



SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 281 

oath in a form too often heard among us. For in- 
stance : " If I have done this, may Heaven strike 
me dead." " Heaven knows I have not done this." 
Or, " If I am guilty of this crime may I disappear 
with the sun," i. e., may I die when the sun goes 
down. Another form is, " May. the gods take me 
away to the infernal regions." 

The sun is sometimes worshipped and invoked 
under similar circumstances, and with a similar in- 
tent. This is because he is supposed to see and know 
all that passes on earth. Often, too, heaven and the 
sun are both included in the same acts of worship 
and invocation. 

The same ceremony, in substance and design, is 
often performed before the idols in temples. The 
accuser and accused present themselves before the 
images, and go through the usual forms of devotion 
to these imaginary deities — burning incense sticks, 
red wax candles and gilt paper, at the same time 
reverently kneeling and " knocking head." It is 
currently believed by the mass of the people, that in 
such cases also, the guilty will be punished with 
death, sickness, or some other dire calamity, while 
the innocent will remain unharmed. 

But it often occurs, as might be expected, that 
neither of the parties suffers any injury whatever, 
and vice versa, that some misfortune happens to both ; 
or, that trouble comes upon the one conscious of in- 
nocence, while the other, who knows he is the 
offender, not only escapes, but prospers. One might 
reasonably suppose that the frequency of such a re- 
sult would destroy the faith of the people in the 
value of this method of establishing innocence and 



282 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

detecting and punishing guilt. But it does not. 
And how do you think they account for these fail- 
ures in the administration of justice ? They say of 
heaven, if the appeal was made to it, that it either 
has no eyes or was not observing at the time. And 
with reference to the idols, that they are inefficient, or 
stupid, or lazy, or indifferent about the matter, and 
unwilling to interfere; or else, that the intelligent 
spirit of the idol was absent, having passed out through 
the hole in the back, which is made on purpose to 
allow ingress and egress at pleasure ! So that some- 
times it is a god and sometimes it is not. How 
forcibly this reminds us of the keen irony of Elijah 
to the prophets of Baal, when "he mocked them, 
and said, cry aloud ; for he is a god : either he is 
talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or 
peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked." 
Surely, " they that make them are like unto them, 
so is every one that trusteth in them." If the " in- 
telligent heart" is absent too often, which is inferred 
from successive unfavorable results of cases pre- 
sented to him — the idol loses his reputation, his 
shrine is neglected, and his temple falls into decay, 
until a lucky issue of some cases brought before him 
restores him to popular favor once more. Then he 
gets a new nose if the old one has dropped off; or a 
new hand or foot, and his hideous form receives a 
fresh coat of paint or gilding. His altar is once more 
crowded, and the incense of a blind adoration smokes 
before him day and night — fearfully emblematical of 
the smoke of the future torment of his deluded wor- 
shippers. How long, O Lord ! how long shall these 
things be ? 



SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 

Weighing Day. — The first day of summer, accord- 
ing to Chinese reckoning, fell this year on the sixth 
of May. It is a prevailing custom of the people to 
have themselves weighed on this day. They have a 
very silly superstition connected with this practice. 
Many profess to believe, that unless they get weighed 
on the first day of summer, they will lose flesh as the 
season advances, from illness or some other cause ; 
but, that being weighed on this day, will be a pre- 
ventive of such a misfortune. It is quite surprising 
how they can really credit this idle fancy, for they 
must have thousands of testimonies to its falsity every 
year, in the fact, that many who have been weighed 
do, nevertheless, fall off in weight from various 
causes; while, on the other hand, many who do not 
get weighed, increase in flesh. But, as in the case 
of the superstition before described, innumerable de- 
monstrations of its utter futility, are not sufficient to 
induce the deluded people to renounce it. Long es- 
tablished custom, let it involve whatever absurdities 
it may, evidently has far greater authority than the 
most palpable truth. The antiquity of any practice, 
if this be its only recommendation, is always a suffi- 
cient one to the Chinese, however opposed to the 
plainest dictates of reason, common sense, and matter- 
of-fact. 

The day is also regarded as a sort of holiday, and 
there may be many, who, without any very strong 
confidence in the act, as an insurance-policy against 
becoming lighter, still get weighed from the desire so 
common among ourselves, to know one's own weight. 
They often indulge in no little merriment on the 
occasion, by supposing themselves pigs — a supposi- 



284 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

tion, by the way, quite consistent with truth, in many 
instances — and estimating their value as such, at the 
market price of pork. 

The health of Mrs. Taylor having entirely failed, 
it was thought, on consultation, that the only pros- 
pect of restoration lay in a long sea voyage. She, 
however, was unwilling to resort to this expedient, 
if it would take me also from the field. Finally, an 
opportunity offering to return to the United States, 
by a vessel in which Dr. and Mrs. Bridgman, and 
Mrs. Boone were to be passengers — also in quest of 
health ; and finding she could go with them, thus ob- 
viating the necessity of my leaving my work to ac- 
company her, she consented to a prospective absence 
of a year, hoping, by the expiration of that time, to 
be again in China. She, therefore, together with the 
gentleman and ladies above named, sailed for New 
York on the 5th of February, 1852, in the ship 
" Adelaide," commanded by Captain Jacob Cobb, 
whose kind attentions to my wife and two children 
on that voyage will ever be gratefully remembered. 
They reached America in safety, after a voyage of 
one hundred and thirty-five days, with the Chinese 
woman who accompanied them as a nurse. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

JOURNEY TO NAN-KING, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF CHINA. 

Signification of the Name — My Chinese Costume — Su-chau — Grand 
Canal — Custom House — Bridges— Boats — City of Vu-sih — Hills — 
Novel mode of Fishing — Fishing Cormorants — Grain-junks — City 
of Chang-chau — City of Tan-yang — Adventure with a Barber — 
Wheelbarrow ride — Face of Country — City of Chinkiang-fu — Kin- 
shan, or Golden Island — Cast iron Pagoda. 

The name Nan-king means Southern Capital, or 
Court; and Peh-king — called by foreigners "Pekin" 
— Northern Capital. 

The usual route to this famous city leads yon 
through Su-chau, which was described in a former 
chapter ; and as the reader may, from that sketch, 
be sufficiently familiar with the portion of it leading 
to that city — which ordinarily requires two days' 
travel — we need not delay for any further description. 

I had before learned to eat with the chopsticks, 
and on this occasion I donned the native costume 
throughout — had my head shaved, except the back 
part, on which the hair was left for the purpose of 
attaching to it an artificial queue — procured a pair 
of dark-brown, goggle-eyed spectacles, the glasses 
being of smoky quartz, and about the size and shape 
of a Spanish dollar. My clothing was of the better 
sort. A cap of bluish-black satin, with a close-fitting 



286 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

crown — wide, turned-up rim of black velvet over 
thick pasteboard, and a heavy tassel of red silk, fall- 
ing from a round, brass knob on the apex, around the 
sides of the crown. A long, blue gown of figured 
silk, reaching to the feet — a pair of tightly-fitting 
pantaloons, the legs of which were not at all joined 
at the top, but each was drawn on by itself, and tied 
about the ankles with long silken strings ; and a blue 
broadcloth sack or coat, large enough to envelop two 
such men, while one might almost crawl into the 
sleeves. My shoes were of drab cloth, on which fig- 
ures cut out of black velvet were pasted; the broad 
toes were turned up, and the soles, of felt, were an 
inch and a half in thickness. I had hired a native of 
Nan-king as a guide, and a boat, with three boatmen, 
for a conveyance. 

Leaving the walls of Su-chau, your boat passes on 
westward through the densely populated suburbs, 
some two miles in extent. You are now on the 
Grand canal leading from Hang-chau to Peking. 
It is 700 miles long, and 170,000 men were employed 
in its construction 2,000 years ago. It is here about 
150 feet in width, and is filled with boats of every 
description plying to and fro, from the unwieldy 
grain-junk to the miserable shell of the beggar. 
Seven miles from Su-chau you come to a populous 
village, at which is a Custom-house. Here, your 
boat must undergo an examination, in order to which 
it passes under a bridge from the main canal into a 
small one on the left. A custom-house officer comes 
on board, examines every part of the boat, looks into 
your basket and trunks, but finding nothing except 
the ordinary travelling appurtenances of a Chinese he 



JOITKNEY TO NAN-KING. 287 

departs, after receiving his customary fee of fourteen 
cash — the only contraband article in the boat not hav- 
ing arrested his attention, although sitting directly 
before his eyes — a live foreigner! Having passed 
this ordeal, your boat makes a circuitous route of half 
a mile to get back again into the main canal. Large 
boats and junks do not leave it at all, but are in- 
spected at a point between the two extremities of the 
small side canal. 

If, on seeing some of the finely arched bridges, not 
many miles from Shanghai, which are evidently quite 
ancient, you have ever entertained a doubt that they 
are beyond the skill of native artificers of the present 
time, that doubt will be dispelled, when you here see 
a new one, of light granite, equal to any you have 
before passed, and bearing an inscription which in- 
forms you it was built but ten years ago. 

Notwithstanding the width of the canal, so dense 
is the crowd of boats at this place that you find it 
quite difficult to make your way among them. But 
finally succeeding, you have fair sailing, with no 
scarcity of company for the rest of the day. A noble 
range of hills lies in full view off to the South, but 
the banks of the canal are so high as to preclude the 
sight of nearer objects. 

About twenty-seven miles from Su-chau is the pop- 
ulous city of Yu-sih. On approaching it you will see 
quantities of rice-straw, in numerous stacks, for burn- 
ing bricks and earthen-ware in the large circular 
kilns near by. When your boat comes up to the 
walls, it turns abruptly into the moat on the left, and 
passes around the southern side of the city. Here 
you have a beautiful view of the Sih-shan rising up 



FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

before you — a high hill, from which the city takes its 
name. At its foot, toward you, is another hill, but 
much smaller, crowned with a seven-storied pagoda. 
With the walls on your right, you have some slightly 
elevated grounds on the left, filled with grassy, grave 
mounds, and covered with a pretty shrubbery of 
stunted pines. The same swarming population, both 
on land and water, meets your eye here that you find 
almost everywhere else in China. Your boat stops 
at the west gate, while the boatmen go to purchase 
provisions for the journey. After some little exercise 
of your patience they return, and you are soon on 
your way again, proceeding in a northwesterly 
course, having another chain of hills still on the 
south, in a line parallel with the canal. 

You may here chance to see a mode of fishing that 
is quite novel to you. The net — if it may be called 
a net — is like a truncated cone of basket-work, open 
at both ends, about three feet high, one and a half in 
diameter at the top and four at the bottom. A man 
gets into this and wades into the water with it — the 
larger opening being downward. He lifts it up a 
few inches from the bottom of the canal, and walks 
slowly about till he comes to a place where he sup- 
poses there are fish — perhaps previously baited — or 
until he feels them about his feet. After standing 
perfectly still for a few minutes, with his basket-net 
lifted up to his arm-pits, he suddenly thrusts it down 
and then feels about carefully with his feet till he 
ascertains whether or not he has a fish inclosed. If 
he has succeeded in entrapping any, he soon secures 
his prey with his hands and tosses him on the shore. 

You will also frequently see small boats having 



JOURNEY TO NANKING. 289 

several sticks a foot and a half long, projecting hori- 
zontally from the sides or " gunwales," and on these 
are perched from a dozen to twenty tame cormorants 
trained for fishiDg. A bit of cord, and sometimes a 
ring of wire, is fastened around the neck to prevent 
the bird swallowing the fish when captured. The 
fisherman has a small bamboo pole six or eight feet 
long, which has a bit of cord ten inches long, having 
a knot in the end, fastened to one extremity. With 
this pole he drives the cormorants from the perch into 
the water, and then assists them into the boat again 
by dexterously catching the knot into a small hook 
that is attached to the foot of the bird for the purpose. 
The bird dives, and if successful in seizing a fish, 
brings it up to its master, who pulls it into the boat 
with its prey, removes the string from its neck and 
gives it a handful of " bean-curd " as a reward for its 
toil. These singular birds may be seen in great num- 
bers in the vicinity of " The Hills " thirty miles west 
from Shanghai. We have seen one of them bring 
up a fish a foot and "& half in length and of several 
pounds weight. The fisherman animates them to 
dive, by a peculiar shout, and it is quite surprising to 
observe the esprit du corps that is manifested by these 
cormorants themselves when a hundred or more are 
fishing together, urged on by the well-known voices 
of their several owners, in four or five boats, like 
hunters encouraging their hounds. This mode of 
fishing always presents a most novel, exciting, and 
interesting scene. 

Many hundreds of huge, unwieldy grain-junks 
will be met with all along your route ; some lying 
moored near the towns and cities, and others moving 

13 



290 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

slowly along the canal, by means of their enormous 
fan-shaped mat sails, if the wind be fair ; or, if it be 
adverse, towed with long ropes by fifteen or twenty 
men walking on the bank. 

As the canal is not infested with pirates in this 
region, your boatmen at their own choice, ply the oar 
all night, and soon after daylight you reach the city 
of Chang-chau, about thirty miles from Vu-sih. This 
is also a large walled city, with its moat filled with 
boats and grain-junks. Every few miles you pass 
villages on the banks, and you have distant hill scen- 
ery in view most of the time, but the country in the 
immediate vicinity of the canal is quite level and 
presents no striking points of difference from that 
near Shanghai. 

Toward the close of the day, a pagoda in the dis- 
tance indicates that you are approaching Tan-yang — 
another walled city, large and populous, bearing the 
same general features with the two just named. It 
is some thirty miles westward v from Chang-chau, and 
is a city of much trade, having the canal around its 
walls filled with boats and junks. Here as my head 
was needing another application of the razor, and no 
man can shave his own head, my guide was dispatched 
to procure a barber. After some time he returned 
with with one, who, after arranging his implements, 
approached me with as much hesitation and evident 
misgiving as you may imagine the man to have done 
the lion which held up his paw to have the thorn ex- 
tracted. He could not have failed to discover that 
whoever else I might be, I was no countryman of his. 
But he said nothing. Cautiously and silently he 
performed the operation — was paid double the usual 



JOURNEY TO NAN-KING. 291 

price, and looked as if he was particularly glad of an 
opportunity to leave. I have no doubt but as soon 
as he got safely out of that boat he drew several 
extra-long inspirations of fresh air, by way of self- 
indemnification for the short ones to which he had 
restricted himself while shaving, what he supposed 
to be, the head of a lunatic ! For such, as I after- 
ward learned, had my guide, who was more shrewd 
than truthful, represented me at several points along 
the route, in order to screen me from such familiar ap- 
proaches as might result in my detection as a foreigner. 
When he told me this after our return to Shanghai, 
it explained to me why, on several other occasions, 
the natives had looked at me very inquiringly and 
curiously, but had kept at quite a respectful distance. 
Leaving Tan-yang the next morning at daybreak, 
your course is nearly north toward the next city on 
the route — Chin-kiang-fu. 

The face of the country now becomes quite uneven 
and hilly. The banks of the canal are from fifty to a 
hundred feet high, and the soil is of a red clayey 
character. In the sides of the banks are seen nu- 
merous little springs, which are probably strongly 
impregnated with iron, as you will infer from the 
discoloration of the soil, over which the water trickles ; 
for the quantity from any one spring is not sufficient 
to form even a rill. You encounter a continuous line 
of grain-junks extending many miles, and the heavy 
measured tramp of the junkmen on their decks, as 
they pole their clumsy craft, or warp them along by 
a line attached to the windlass — accompanied by 
singing, somewhat after the manner of sailors on 
foreign vessels — forms the music by which your ears 



292 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

are regaled all day long, with the beating of a gong 
occasionally, as an interlude. You have much diffi- 
culty in navigating the canal along here, while the 
junks are in motion, for it is narrower than you have 
before seen it, and the water seems lower than usual. 
But you succeed in reaching a small village half way 
from Tan-yang to Chin-kiang-fu. Here, however, 
you are completely blocked up, and find it necessary 
to send your guide for a wheelbarrow in order to 
proceed, after having inquired in vain for horses or 
sedans. The wheelbarrow is precisely like the one 
before described, except that it has two handles in 
front, as well as behind, so that one man pulls while 
another pushes. With a part of your Chinese bed- 
ding for a cushion, the ride is not so uncomfortable 
as one would suppose. Among others riding in this 
manner, we met a well-dressed man sitting astride 
on the top of a large load on his barrow, while a 
woman was pulling in the shafts before, and a man 
pushing in those behind. It is really delightful to 
breathe the fresh air of heaven, and to have a wide 
prospect spread out on every side, after having been 
confined to the compass of eight or ten feet square in 
a native boat, with your view limited for the most 
part, to the banks of the canal, for five days. What 
a gloriously beautiful country ! The hills skirting the 
Yang-tsz-kiang, stretching far away on the north- 
east, and others rising abruptly from the vast, undu- 
lating plain in various directions. The fields, green 
with the spring wheat and rye, are separated from 
each other by ridges of earth three or four feet high 
and about the same width. How healthy and ruddy 
the complexion of the people — the men and women 



J0UBNEY TO NAN-KING. 293 

working in the fields, and the children playing in the 
dirt, about the houses, which are built of large bricks 
set up edgewise so as to form hollow walls, which 
thus require fewer brick in their construction. The 
dwellings have a dark, gloomy aspect, not being plas- 
tered and whitewashed like those about Shanghai, 
and frequently you will see them with walls built 
partly of rude, brick-shaped lumps of clay merely 
dried in the sun. 

Occasionally, you dismount from your wheelbar- 
row to allow the good fellows who trundle it to rest ; 
and you will find it no less refreshing to yourself to 
walk a few rods ; for the jolting of that vehicle is 
not so particularly agreeable, as to prevent the desire 
for a change now and then. Having accomplished 
half your afternoon's ride, you stop at a tea-tavern 
and content yourself with a cup of that beverage, 
while the rest of your party take the same, with the 
addition of some native cakes, which they devour 
with as keen a relish as you also might, perhaps, 
could you but persuade yourself they were clean. 
But you must overcome this fastidiousness, when you 
travel in China, or you will starve. On you trundle 
again, over the pleasing undulations of this delightful 
region, till you approach the nine-storied pagoda near 
Chin-kiang-fu — a large city of sad celebrity, as hav- 
ing been the scene of the most sanguinary conflict 
during the war of 1841-2. Your path here is quite 
winding, and leads you across the hills forming the 
southern barrier of the city. Passing through the 
thronged streets of a long and thickly peopled su- 
burb, you enter, on the south side,the ponderous gates, 
swinging in their massive, arched gateways of finely- 



294: FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

hewn granite, which are about forty feet high by fif- 
teen or twenty wide, and two hundred or more in 
length. 

Your one-wheeled carriage rattles along over the 
stone pavement, and you are borne through the prin- 
cipal street into the heart of the city, for a mile or 
two northw T ard, when you turn to the left, and after 
passing over about the same distance you make your 
egress at the west gate ; and then traversing another 
long, busy suburb, finally come to a halt at a native 
inn. This is a dark, gloomy, dirty establishment, 
but you are glad of a resting-place anywhere, and 
your appetite, too, has so fair gained the victory over 
your squeamishnes, that you make a hearty supper on 
a-la-mode pork, " bean-curds," and greens. You are 
sufficiently fatigued, also, to sleep on a hard pallet of 
straw, with your Chinese quilt, alias you wheelbar- 
row cushion — for a covering. This kind of fare is, 
with little variation, to be continued for the remain- 
der of your journey. 

The city of Chin-kiang-fu is beautifully situated 
directly on the south bank of the Yang-tsz-kiang, 
and is environed by hills on all other sides. It is a 
place of much trade, but the general features of the 
city itself — the streets, shops, dwellings, temples, etc., 
differ but little from those of Shanghai, and indeed 
of every other Chinese city we have yet seen. The 
much greater size of the gates has already been men- 
tioned, and we may here add, that they also are 
double, but the two are in a direct line with each 
other, and with the street, instead of being at right 
angles, as at Shanghai. They are also much further 
apart — apparently two or three hundred feet. 



JOURNEY TO NAN-KING. 295 

A high steep hill, ascended by a flight of stone 
steps, overhangs the city on the west, almost like a 
precipice, and you have the closely crowded roofs 
spread out beneath your feet far below. A small 
temple stands on the top of the hill, and the view 
from this point is the finest we have so far met with 
in the Celestial Empire. Looking eastward, you 
have the city below, with a beautiful chain of hills 
encircling it, and then stretching far away to the east, 
skirting the south banks of the Yang-tsz-kiang till 
they are lost in the distance. On your right toward 
the south is an extensive scene, diversified with hills, 
undulations, and plains; dotted with clusters of cot- 
tages, and chequered with fields of wheat, rice, cot- 
ton, and vegetables, giving a landscape of varied 
hues, according to the season of the year. To the 
westward you see a mountainous range of hills, still 
south of the river, and pointing out its course. Then 
turning your face toward the north you will have 
before you this magnificent river — " Ocean's child" — 
rolling along its muddy waters, while here and there 
rocks and islands rise from its turbid bosom. These 
islands are little else than barren, precipitous rocks, 
having sometimes a few trees and some shrubbery 
growing from the crevices, or where sufficient soil 
may have become deposited to afford them sustenance. 
There is one, a half-mile northwest from the city, near 
the south bank of the river, with which it is con- 
nected at low water. This is the famous Kin-shan 
("Golden Island,") celebrated in Chinese writings 
throughout the empire. It is but a few hundred yards 
in circumference, and is covered with temples on all 
sides. A seven-storied pagoda, together with three 



296 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

imperial pavilions going to decay, crown the summit. 
Its temples are like those seen elsewhere, and indeed 
there is a new one within the north gate at Shanghai, 
the Kwong-foh-sz — wich is a facsimile of the largest 
and handsomest one on the Kin-shan, and being new, 
is the more beautiful of the two. There are several 
large, polished, marble tablets, in various parts of the 
premises, with inscriptions cut upon them. These 
are shown to visitors as having been presented to the 
establishment (for it is a Buddhist monastery) by dif- 
ferent emperors, Kanghi, Kienlung, and others. 
There is also said to be a famous library here, but we 
saw nothing of it, though conducted by a young 
priest, whose business seemed to be to show the cu- 
riosities of the place to strangers, and for which he 
receives a fee of a few hundred cash. This island is 
equal to Niagara for fees and charges. You will see 
scores of priests in long yellow robes, going in single 
file from one temple to another, and forming them- 
selves into platoons with military precision, and pay- 
ing their devotions to the different idols. At each 
shrine you are solicited for " incense cash" — which, of 
course, you decline giving — to purchase sticks of in- 
cense, which are kept constantly burning before these 
deities. 

A mile or two lower down the river, still on the 
south bank, and nearly opposite the north gate of the 
city, which is a half-mile distant from the water — are 
two hills crowned with temples and connected to- 
gether by a high, but narrow ridge, only three feet 
wide on the top, affording barely sufficient surface 
for the stone pathway. The outermost of these two 
hills projects a little into the river, three of its jagged 



JOURNEY TO NAN-KING. 297 

rocky sides being nearly perpendicular. It has on 
its top a very pretty, new, quadrangular pavilion, 
with its floor, and the four pillars supporting its high, 
gracefully curved roof, made of well-hewn granite. 
A few rods from this, on the same hill, is a nine- 
storied pagoda, some forty or fifty feet in height, 
built entirely of cast iron. Each octagonal piece 
forming the walls of an entire story is a single cast- 
ing ; so, also, are the eight-cornered, slightly concave 
plates forming the roofs of the several stories. The 
whole of this curious structure, including the base 
and the spire, was cast in about twenty pieces. Ori- 
ginally perpendicular, it now has an inclination of 
two or three degrees toward the south. - It is about 
eight feet in diameter at the base, each side of the 
octagon being nearly three feet ; and its interior is 
entirely filled up with brick masonry, so that it is 
impossible to ascend it. It is evidently of great an- 
tiquity, but bore no inscription from which its age 
could be determined. 

This, and the adjoining hill or bluff, were the points 
occupied by Major-General Schoedde's brigade at the 
battle of Chin-kiang-fu, on the 21st of July, 1842, 
and just opposite is the point at which he escaladed 
the northern wall of the city. The recent repairs 
show the part that was demolished on that occasion. 
Looking down the precipitous sides of this bluff east- 
ward, a pretty plain lies spread out before you, and 
almost directly under your feet, is a native battery of 
twenty -four guns immediately on the bank of the river. 

The grand canal passes through the western su- 
burbs of the city, and enters the river nearly opposite 
Kin-shan. 

13* 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

JOURNEY TO NAN-KING CONTINUED. 

Another Wheelbarrow Ride — Clear Water — A Night's Lodging — 
Summer Palace of a former Emperor — Stone Road — Modes of 
Conveyance — Approach to Nan-king — Tomb of an Emperor — An- 
cient City— Gates — Tartar City — Streets — Ox-cart — Site of Impe- 
rial Palace — Public Offices — The celebrated "Porcelain Tower" — 
A native description of it — A Donkey-ride — Face of Country — 
Terracing Hills— Modes of Irrigation. 

We took passage in a boat for Nan-king, up the Yang- 
tsz-kiang, but being detained by adverse winds for 
two days, with no prospect of a change in our favor, 
we left it and resolved to try the land route. Sent 
our guide to hire donkeys ; but being unsuccessful in 
his attempt to procure them, we dispatched him in 
search of a wheelbarrow. After some time he re- 
turned with one, and we set out for the second time, 
with this mode of conveyance, having a two days' 
journey of fifty or sixty English miles before us. 

Our route lay along the foot of the range of hills, 
on the south side of the river, which was a mile or 
two distant all the way, and most of the time out of 
sight. A low, level, fertile plain occupied the inter- 
vening space, which is overflowed during seasons of 
very high water. This plain on the right, and the 
high, steep hills on the left, form a contrast that 
affords an agreeable scenery throughout most of the 



JOURNEY TO NAN-KING. 299 

journey. But what delights you most of all, is the 
occasional sight of a beautiful stream of clear, cool, 
spring-water, running down the ravines among the 
rocks, and with your hand for a cup, if you have no 
better, or else kneeling, and with your mouth to the 
limpid current, you quaff it as a luxury to which 
you have been for years a stranger. These hills are 
mostly barren, but on some of them dwarf pines 
grow, which are collected by the natives in this vicin- 
ity for firewood. The population is more sparse than 
we have before met with ; still, you frequently pass 
cottages and hamlets, and every few miles a small 
village at which is an eating-house and a tea-tavern ; 
and here your wheelbarrow men stop to rest and 
regale themselves. You, yourself, also find it quite 
refreshing to take a cup of tea whenever you come 
to a halt, after riding under a scorching sun on your 
open carriage. Having accomplished about half the 
journey, you stop for the night at one of these villa- 
ges. The inn looks anything but inviting, and your 
sleeping apartment still less so, when, after passing 
through sundry dark buildings and dirty court-yards, 
you find yourself quartered in the darkest and gloom- 
iest stable of all, on a ground floor, with a straw mat 
for your bed, cobwebs for curtains, and spiders, cen- 
tipedes, et cetera, for your companions. 

After a not very comfortable night's lodging, if you 
are so disposed, you can rise at daybreak, and pro- 
ceed upon your journey. Yourself and guide again 
mount the wheelbarrow, which is not provided with 
handles in front, like one formerly described ; but a 
double rope is attached to the cross-piece directly in 
front of the wheel, and one of your barrow-men 



300 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

draws by this thrown over his shoulders, while his 
companion propels by the handles from behind. The 
road is not so smooth as the one travelled yesterday, 
and your native guide describes the jolting, by terms 
not unlike in sound, to the sensation produced — 
hwung lung tuny, hwung lung tung. Nor does the 
path follow so closely the course of the river, which 
seems to sweep off to the northward. Leaving it, 
therefore, some" twenty-five miles before you reach 
Nan-king, your road crosses hills and valleys in almost 
unbroken succession, during the remainder of the 
way. 

In one of these valleys is the ruin of a summer pa- 
lace, built by the emperor Kien-lung. It consists of a 
number of one-story buildings, with spacious courts 
between, and flanked by smaller buildings on the sides. 
Enough still remains to show that the workmanship 
was of the most elaborate and unique character. 
One would easily imagine that the spot may once 
have been exceedingly beautiful under cultivation, 
but now there is nothing particularly attractive in its 
appearance. 

The same emperor had a road constructed of hewn 
stone, varying from four to six feet in width, from 
this summer palace to the capital — a distance of 
about twenty miles. But it is now in such bad re- 
pair, that it is far inferior to the ordinary foot-paths. 
The jolting over the stones is so uncomfortable that 
you are glad to dismount from your wheelbarrow 
and walk, most of the time. 

Owing to the uneven surface of the country in all 
this region, canals are impracticable, and the trans- 
portation of produce and merchandise is effected by 



JOURNEY TO NAN-KING. 301 

means of horses, mules and donkeys. These useful 
animals are constantly met with, in great numbers, 
and it is astonishing to see the immense burdens they 
are made to bear. The large proportion of those 
carrying pairs of wooden tubs, like panniers, filled 
with whisky, will convince you that strong drink is 
as marketable an article here, as in many other parts 
of the world. Wheelbarrows are also extensively 
used. You will see many people travelling by all 
these modes of conveyance, and occasionally in 
sedans. "Women riding on donkeys sit in the same 
position as men. 

While yet some ten miles distant from Nan-king, 
you get a view of the far-famed " Porcelain Tower," 
from the top of one of the barren hills on the road, 
and you have it in sight, now and then, till you reach 
the city. Villages now occur at shorter intervals, 
the population is greater, and more business activity 
is manifest. Monumental tablets and gateways are 
frequently met with, spanning the streets. The paved 
pathway now widens into a spacious road of some 
fifty feet, for a mile or so, up to the Chau-yang-mun, 
one of the gates on the eastern side of the city. 
From a hill over which this road passes, you will see 
on your right hand, toward the north, perhaps a 
mile distant, a wall, inclosing several large buildings 
resembling temples. This is the spot styled in books 
of travellers the " Tombs of the Kings." But it is, 
according to the best information we could gather, 
the mausoleum of only one emperor, the first of the 
Ming dynasty, Tai-tsu, who flourished about five 
hundred years ago. A semicircular avenue leads to 
it, winding around the base of a small hill. At the 



302 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

further end of this avenue a pair of colossal, stone 
elephants, stand facing each other on the opposite 
sides. Then, as you proceed toward the cemetery, 
there are other figures in stone, of lions, dogs, horses, 
long- robed gate-keepers, and Tartar soldiers, similarly 
placed, in successive pairs, and at regular intervals. 
All these figures, except the first and last named, 
may be seen, though on a much smaller scale, in the 
vicinity of Shanghai. The wall is about fourteen 
feet high, and incloses a space of several acres in 
extent, which is occupied by three large buildings, 
separated by spacious courts, three or four hundred 
feet square. The first of these seems to have been 
designed as the hall of entrance; the second, the 
grand Imperial hall, in the centre of which is a 
square apartment of light, fanciful wood- work, which 
contains the tablet of the deceased emperor. This 
building is two hundred feet long by one hundred in 
width. Its roof, which is of yellow glazed tiles on 
its outer surface, and of very minute and elaborate 
painting on the inner, is supported by thirty-six pol- 
ished, wooden columns, about forty feet high, near 
three feet in diameter at the base, and something less 
at the top. Each of these pillars is a single stick of 
hard pine. The floor is of polished marble tiles, 
about two feet square, which reflect the light admit- 
ted through the oyster shell windows in front. The 
third of these structures is merely a piece of masonry 
of solid limestone, about a hundred and fifty feet 
square. It stands at the foot of a hill, on which, 
immediately in the rear, are three large, conical, arti- 
ficial mounds. In one of these, the remains of the 
emperor are said to have been deposited. The ap- 



JOURNEY TO NAN-KING. 303 

proach to the mounds is by an ascending tunnel, 
finely arched, through the mason-work. This tunnel 
is about fifteen feet wide by twenty high. On its 
sides, incrustations of lime have been deposited, from 
the water trickling through the crevices, between the 
blocks of limestone of which it is built, and from 
its roof small stalactites have formed. This pile of 
masonry is ascended by means of stone steps in the 
rear, and at a distance of perhaps fifty or sixty feet 
from the ground, is a beautiful terrace covered with 
grass, from which arises a much smaller section of a 
stone wall, having three smaller arches passing 
through it, in a line parallel with the tunnel under- 
neath, all opening toward the mounds in the rear, 
and the great imperial hall in front. These edifices 
are surrounded by triple terraces, paved with finely- 
hewn stone, each bordered by an elaborately wrought 
stone railing, and ascended by three flights of steps. 
Taken altogether, this mausoleum, though somewhat 
dilapidated, has an air of magnificence befitting the 
burial-place of a sovereign of so vast an empire. It 
is called Hwang-lin — "Imperial forest." 

The present city of Nan-king is surrounded by a 
wall about fifty feet high, and has thirteen gates. It 
is situated within the space formerly occupied by the 
ancient city, which had eighteen gates. The wall of 
the latter may still be traced in some places, though 
in others, not a vestige of it remains. It is far with- 
out the present city, and the intermediate space, 
where sufficiently level, is occupied by fields and 
vegetable gardens. The more hilly portions afford 
pasture ground for horses, mules, donkeys, cattle, sheep 
and goats. 



304 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

The gates of the modern city differ somewhat from 
each other in their dimensions. Some of the finest 
are thirty or forty feet high by about twenty in 
width, and the arched gateways are a hundred or 
more feet in length. At the point of our entrance 
there were four of these gateways, all in a right line, 
and some two hundred feet apart. The ivy had crept 
up the walls and was hanging in beautiful festoons 
over the arches. The base of the walls at these gates 
was of marble, originally white, but now of a dingy, 
light yellow, sculptured in bas-relief. This quadru- 
ple gate is the Chau-yang-mun and leads directly into 
the Tartar portion of the city. Here are some fine 
streets nearly forty feet wide, having a space in the 
middle of about eight feet in width, flagged with 
well-hewn blocks of blue and white marble, and on 
each side of this, a brick pavement of some fifteen 
feet or more. You will here see two-wheeled carts 
as large as those used in our own country, and very 
much resembling them in general appearance, but of 
rude workmanship, heavy, clumsy wheels, and drawn 
by a single ox in shafts. They are sometimes laden 
with produce, and sometimes with women and child- 
ren, going to and from market. 

The site of the ancient imperial palace is pointed 
out to you, but scarce a vestige of it remains, and the 
spot is occupied by the ordinary one story, dark, dirty 
dwellings. And indeed, apart from the Porcelain 
Tower and the mausoleum of Tai-tsu, there is hardly 
a building of any kind, be it temple, shop, or dwell- 
ing that has not its equal in Canton, Shanghai, and 
probably most other Chinese cities. Many of the 
streets are much wider than those at Shanghai, and 



JOURNEY TO NAN-KING. 305 

in the Mancliu city, where there is little or no busi- 
ness carried on, and the population comparatively 
sparse — they are more cleanly. But in the busy, 
thickly inhabited parts of the city, Nan-king has little 
to boast of, on the score of cleanliness, over the cities 
before described. 

The offices of public functionaries are probably 
more numerous here, than in any other city this side 
of Peking. They may be known by the two high 
poles with a square w r ooden frame-work near the top 
— by the wall opposite the entrance, with the figure 
of a huge dragon painted on it, and by the soldiers, 
police-runners, and other loungers about the gates. 

But by far the most interesting and attractive ob- 
ject in Nan-king is the famous " Porcelain Tower," of 
world-wide celebrity. It was built about the year 
1413, by Yiing-loh, the third emperor of the Ming 
dynasty. Eepresentations of it are found in nearly 
all the school-geographies of civilized nations; and 
well do many of us remember the school-boy idea we 
formed of its milky whiteness associated with the 
term porcelain ; while in reality but a comparatively 
small portion of it is white. Green is the predomi- 
nant color, from the fact that the curved tiles of its 
projecting roofs are all of this color, while the orna- 
mental wood-work supporting these roofs, is of the 
most substantial character, in the peculiar style of 
Chinese architecture, curiously wrought and richly 
painted in various colors. The body or shaft of the 
edifice is built of large, well-burnt brick, and on the 
exterior surface they are red, yellow, green, and 
white. The bricks and tiles are of very fine clay and 
highly glazed, so that the tower presents a most gay 



306 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

and beautiful appearance, which is greatly heightened 
when seen in the reflected sunlight. It has nine 
stories, and is 260 English feet high. At the base, it 
is over 300 feet in circumference, each side of the 
octagon being about forty feet. After the first or 
ground story, all the others are quadrangular on the 
inside, instead of conforming to the octagonal exte- 
rior. On each face is an arched opening in which 
one can stand, and look out upon the surrounding 
scenery ; but a wooden grating prevents you from 
stepping out upon the balconies or galleries, which 
are not provided with balustrades. The inner walls 
of each story are formed of black, polished tiles, a 
foot square, on each of which an image of Buddha is 
molded in bas-relief \ and richly gilt. There are, on 
an average, more than two hundred of these images 
in each story, giving, in all an aggregate of nearly 
two thousand. A steep staircase on one side of each 
square apartment, leads to the one above, and by this 
means you may reach the top, from which a magnifi- 
cent panorama is seen spread out before you — the 
whole city of Nan-king toward the north, but as it 
were, at your feet — its fine amphitheatre of hills, yet 
not so high as to shut out a prospect beyond, in some 
directions, as far as the eye can reach — then three or 
four miles distant, northward, you see the noble 
Yang-tsz-kiang, from which a canal leads up to the 
city, and surrounds it, forming the moat. 

A fine, spacious temple, covered with yellow, glazed 
tiles and filled with gilded idols, stands at the foot 
of this Pagoda, and in the same extensive inclosure. 
Here we purchased of a priest a native cut, repre- 
senting the Tower, and containing some particulars 



JOURNEY TO NAN-KING. 307 

relative to its history. Of a portion of it the follow- 
ing is a translation, which I prepared with the aid of 
my teacher: "The emperor Yung-loh desiring to 
reward the kindness of his mother, began, in the 
tenth year of his reign, in the sixth month and fif- 
teenth day, at mid-day to build this tower. It was 
completed in the sixth year of the emperor Sien-tuh, 
on the first day of the eighth month, having occupied 
nineteen years in its erection. The order of the em- 
peror to one of his ministers, Wong-ti-tah of the Board 
of Public Works, was to build a tower according to 
a draft which he had prepared and put into his hands. 
It was to be nine stories high, the bricks and tiles to 
be glazed and of the ' five colors' ; and it was to be 
superior to all others, in order to make widely known 
the virtues of his mother. Its height was to be 30 
chang* 9 feet, 4 inches, and 9 tenths of an inch. 
The ball on its spire to be of yellow brass overlaid 
with gold, so that it might last forever, and never 
grow dim. From its eight hooks, as many iron chains 
extend to the eight corners of the highest roof ; and 
from each chain, nine bells are suspended at equal 
distances apart. These, together with eight from the 
corners of each projecting roof, amounting to 144 
bells. On the outer face of each story are sixteen 
lanterns, 128 in all, which, with twelve on the inside 
make 140. It requires sixty-four catties of oil to fill 
them. Their light shines through 'the thirty-three 
heavens ' and even illuminates the hearts of all men, 
good and bad, eternally removing human misery. On 



* A chang is ten feet, Chinese measure, equal to nine feet 
English. 



308 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA 

the top of the highest roof are two brazen vessels 
together weighing 900 catties, and one brazen bowl 
besides, weighing 450 catties. The grounds belong- 
ing to the pagoda, and occupied by temples and 
other buildings are 9 le * and 33 paces in circumfer- 
ence. Having been adorned by the emperor Yung- 
loh, its brilliancy will now endure to hundreds of 
generations — a monument of recompensing kindness 
to myriads of years. Therefore it is named Pau-gan- 
sz — ' Recompensing Favor Pagoda? An inscription 
on a tablet within, calls it * The First Pagoda.' Its 
cost was 2,485,484 taels of silver. Encircling the 
spire are nine iron rings — the largest being sixty-three 
feet in circumference, and the smallest, twenty-four 
feet — all together weighing 3,600 catties. In the 
bowl on the top are deposited, one night-shining pearl 
— one water-averting pearl — one fire-averting pearl — 
one wind-averting pearl — one dust-averting pearl — a 
lump of gold weighing forty taels — a picul of tea 
leaves — 1,000 taels of silver — one carnelian stone 
weighing 100 catties — one precious stone gem — 1,000 
strings of ' cash ' bearing the stamp of the emperor 
Yung-loh — two pieces of yellow satin, and four copies 
of Buddhist classics. 

" In the fifth year of the emperor Kia-king of the 
present dynasty, on the fifth month and fifteenth day, 
at daylight in the morning, the god of thunder drove 
poisonous reptiles to this pagoda and immediately three 
sides of it were injured. The strength of the god of 
thunder was very great, but Buddha's resources were 
infinite, therefore the whole edifice was not destroyed. 
The two highest mandarins at Nan-king and Su-chau, 

* A le is one third of an English mile. 



JOUKNEY TO NAN-KING. 309 

the Tsung-toh and Fu-tai, thereupon informed the 
emperor of the accident, and besought him to have it 
repaired. So in the seventh year of his reign on the 
second month and sixth day, the repairs were begun, 
and were finished on the second day of the sixth 
month in the same year, so that the building was as 
perfect as when new." 

Such is the native account of this remarkable edi- 
fice, and when on turning a corner of one of the 
large temples in the spacious inclosure, we came 
suddenly in view of the whole structure at once, its 
beauty and grandeur far surpassed our most glowing 
anticipations. But by far the most interesting cir- 
cumstance associated with the Porcelain Tower, is 
the fact that it is a monument of filial affection — a 
magnificent tribute of the gratitude of a son for his 
mother's love. 

No other American had ever visited it, nor at that 
time, had ever seen Nan-king. If, as has been report- 
ed, it has been destroyed during the war of the Re- 
bellion, the world has sustained a loss from among its 
specimens of wonderful architecture that can never 
be supplied. 

On leaving my boat in the Imperial canal, where 
it was wedged in with other boats and junks, I had 
directed the boatmen to return to Tan-yang, and there 
await our return. We determined on a different and 
nearer route from the one by which we came, and 
having chartered a couple of donkeys, set out over 
the hills that environ Nan-king, leaving the Yang- 
tsz-kiang and Chin-kiang-fu off toward the north, on 
our left. Our donkey-driver walked, and with a 
heavy whip, belabored alternately the animals ridden 
by my guide and myself. The face of the country 



310 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

was elevated and undulating, often hilly, but nowhere 
low and level like that about Shanghai. We saw 
some hills terraced for cultivation. The water was 
conveyed up from one plateau to another, from a 
pond or creek below, by means of such irrigating 
machines as are used at Shanghai for transferring the 
water from the creeks and canals to the fields on 
their banks. They are on the principle of chain- 
pumps — the square pieces of wood that force the 
water before them, moving about a foot apart — along 
a trough some ten inches square, extending — at what- 
ever angle the height of the bank may require — from 
its top down into the water. It may be worked by 
an ox, with an arrangement of cog-wheels, on a simi- 
lar plan with those for turning a cotton-gin in our 
Southern States, but on a much smaller scale. It is 
also often worked by men treading a foot-windlass, 
and keeping themselves in position by leaning on a 
horizontal pole which is placed breast-high, in a 
forked support at each end of the machine. 

Our donkey-travel occupied two days — the inter- 
vening night having been passed at a lodging-place 
in a small town where the sleeping apartment might, 
with far more propriety, be called a stable than a 
bed-room — the earth forming its floor, and the only 
window being a square hole in a rough, stone wall, 
with two or three wooden bars in it. A kind of wide 
course bench with a little straw on it served as a bed, 
on which, wrapped in my Chinese quilt or " comfort," 
I slept sweetly and soundly. 

We found our boat at Tau-yang according to ap- 
pointment, and entering it once more, returned home 
for the remainder of the journey, by the route over 
which we came. 



CHAPTEK XXV. 

WHAT THEY THINK OF ECLIPSES AND EARTHQUAKES. 

Native Astronomers — The Popular Theory — " Sun-Eating" — Worship 
of the Monster — Noises to frighten Him — An Earthquake — Its 
Effects— Native Theory — Ceremony of "Welcoming the Spring" 
— The " Spring Ox" — Presiding Deity of the Year" — A Procession 
— "Beating the Ox" — "Welcoming the God of Joy" — A Female 
Deity — Worship— Military Evolutions — Re w ar ds. 

The 11th of December, 1852, at Shanghai, in 
China, was as clear and bright as could be desired 
for observing an eclipse. So, after breakfast, accom- 
panied by my recently arrived and most estimable 
colleague, Rev. W. G. E. Cunnyngham, and two other 
friends, I sallied forth into the city, armed with frag- 
ments of smoked window-glass, for looking at this 
phenomenon. We knew that the Chinese had been 
some time previously notified of its occurrence, for 
there is an astronomical school at Peking, where 
eclipses are calculated with great certainty and a 
tolerable degree of accuracy — the native mathemati- 
cians missing the exact time of its commencement 
and termination in the present instance, by some fif- 
teen or twenty minutes. The Chinese are indebted 
for their knowledge of astronomical science to the 
Jesuits, who introduced it, together with some other 
branches of useful knowledge, at the time of their 



312 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

first entrance into this empire, over two hundred 
years ago. In consequence of their superiority in 
these respects, about that time they succeeded in ac- 
quiring great influence with the emperor and his 
court at Peking. But, being too ambitious of power, 
they lost what they had before gained, and were ban- 
ished from the empire ; while the Koman Catholic re- 
ligion was proscribed by an imperial edict, and the 
subjects of this " Central Kingdom," as they call 
their country, were forbidden, under heavy penalties, 
receiving or practising its tenets. Though driven 
away themselves, the Jesuits could not take with them 
the learning they had brought. Some of this has 
been preserved and handed down by a succession of 
native scholars, who form a kind of scientific college, 
and compose a part of what might be termed the as- 
tronomical bureau at Peking. 

Although eclipses are calculated and published at 
the capital, only the bare fact is announced, without 
any explanation of the cause ; so that the universally 
received theory of an eclipse throughout the empire 
is, that a wild sun is trying to devour the tame or 
domestic sun. Some say a huge dragon is trying to 
eat the sun or moon. To whatever agent they may 
ascribe the act, the fact that the entire population, 
from the highest to the lowest, regard it as one of 
devouring, is evident from the circumstance, that in 
all books and proclamations, it is called " sun-eating " 
or " moon-eating." Hence, during the continuance 
of an eclipse, there is kept up an incessant din of 
gongs, drums, horns, and the like ; and firing of can- 
non, matchlocks, and crackers at the temples and 
public offices, to frighten away the devourer. Tables 



ECLIPSES AND EARTHQUAKES. 313 

or shrines are also placed in the open air in front of 
the temples, public offices of the magistrates, and 
before the doors and in the courtyards of private 
dwellings, having red wax candles and incense sticks 
burning on them ; while at the temples, the idols are 
brought out and seated with their faces toward the 
sun and opposite the shrines. At the government 
offices, the mandarins come out, and, kneeling down 
before the shrines, bow their heads to the earth nine 
times, worshipping the "eater" and praying him not 
to devour the sun. The idols, in the first-mentioned 
instance, are supposed to be doing the same ; and in 
private dwellings, the various members of the fami- 
lies prostrate themselves, and worship in the same 
manner as the mandarins. In the course of our walk 
through the city on that morning, we saw a little girl 
teaching an infant, that could scarcely stand, to kneel 
and bow to the sun before a table on which the red 
wax candles and incense sticks were burning. When 
the eclipse is passing off, the people universally 
ascribe it to the influence of their noise in frighten- 
ing, or their prayers in persuading, the intruder to 
desist from eating the sun. 

The eclipse, on that occasion, was nearly total at 
Peking, and about five-sixths total at Shanghai. The 
idea of looking at it through a smoked glass seems 
never to have entered the minds of the Chinese, and 
they all thought it a most wonderful discovery. 
They have, however, a tolerable substitute for it, by 
so placing one of their common brass wash-basins 
half filled with water, that the reflection of the sun's 
disc may be seen in it quite distinctly. We had 
crowds about us wherever we went, all eager to look 

14 



314 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

through, our bits of glass, and praising, as we were 
accustomed to hear them on other occasions, the su- 
perior ingenuity of foreigners. At the office of the 
highest dignitary in this region of country, one of 
our pieces of glass was carried in to him, through 
which he saw that the " eating" had commenced even 
before it began to grow dark, and his excellency im- 
mediately came out and performed his prostrations, 
while his cannons were discharged, and his various in- 
struments of noise sent forth their " horrible discord." 
I explained to several intelligent Chinese the true 
cause of eclipses in such a manner, that they seemed 
to comprehend it, and it apparently commended itself 
to their reason, so that they admitted at once the ex- 
planation as perfectly rational and true. Our native 
preacher, Liew, repeated it in his sermon the next 
day, which was Sunday, to a large and attentive 
audience. Full explanations, also, with diagrams ac- 
companying, had been previously printed and exten- 
sively circulated by the Protestant missionaries, so 
that there is little doubt but that the true theory of 
eclipses will hereafter be better understood by some, 
at least, of the people in that part of China. There 
was also an eclipse of the moon on the night of the 
26th of the same month (December), just fifteen days 
later; but it was not visible, from the cloudiness of 
the sky, though readily perceived by the gradual di- 
minishing and then increasing again of the light. 

Early in November, in consequence of the long- 
continued and serious illness of Mrs. Jenkins, my 
other colleague, Rev. B. Jenkins, sailed with his family 
for the United States. She, however, died at sea, as 
mentioned in the first chapter. 



ECLIPSES AND EARTHQUAKES. 315 

On the night of December 16th, at about eight 
o'clock, while standing by a comfortable fire in one 
of the rooms of my house in Shanghai, then occupied 
by my colleague, Rev. W. G. E. Cunnyngham and 
his wife, we observed a shaking of the house like 
that caused by a person walking heavily across the 
floor of an adjoining room, but with no sound of foot- 
steps. As it continued and increased in violence, 
rattling the doors and windows, the noise became like 
the rumbling of many enormous wagons, heavily 
laden, and crossing an immense bridge at the full 
speed of the horses. We looked at each other in con- 
sternation, and Mr. Cunnyngham said, " An earth- 
quake !" a fact which was already but too strongly 
impressed on my own mind. The motion was rapidly 
undulating, so as to cause us to reel in attempting to 
walk — quite similar to that of a ship at sea. It pro- 
duced, in my own case, a nausea precisely like sea- 
sickness, and the next day we heard of several per- 
sons who were similarly affected. We ran out of the 
house, fearing it might fall upon us, and the motion 
continued some seconds after we reached the ground. 
Its duration was about a minute, during which the 
whole population of this great city sent forth their 
voices in one terrific scream. It was most appalling 
to listen to these shrieks of terror, mingled as they 
were, with the howling of innumerable dogs. There 
were many fears that some buildings had fallen, but 
it was afterward ascertained that there were no such 
disasters, except in the case of a few very old and 
dilapidated structures. 

The motion was from north to south, and many 
clocks lacing either of these directions were stopped, 



316 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

while those facing east or west were not affected. 
Fragments of plastering fell in some instances, and 
here and there a loose tile was detached from the 
roof of our house and dropped upon the ceiling over- 
head. Several chimneys on American or European 
houses fell, crashing roofs and ceiling down through 
into bed-chambers. A brick wall, about one hundred 
feet long, seven feet high, and a foot and a half in 
thickness, forming one side of an inclosure around a 
large American mercantile establishment, was thrown 

down. 

"Water standing in large stone jars was shaken 
over the top, two or three inches above its level. 
Hanging lamps were also set swinging, and continued 
to swing for some time after the motion of the earth 
ceased.° This was supposed by some to have been 
the most severe shock of an earthquake experienced 
there for years, though others say— and intelligent 
foreigners among them— that the one in 1845 was 
much more violent. It is said these phenomena 
occur in this part of China two or three times every 
ten years, but never very violent, and sometimes so 
slight as to be scarcely perceptible. This was the 
character of one that was felt a few months after our 
arrival, in the autumn of 1848. 

Dr. Macgowan, of Ningpo, a' scientific American 
missionary there, ascribed them to electric action, 
for three reasons. First, they have all occurred, so 
far as known, during long droughts; second, during 
perfect calms; third, during a highly electrical state 
of the atmosphere. 

But let us come to the Chinese theory of earth- 
quakes. They say, that in the bowels of the earth 



ECLirSES AND EARTHQUAKES. 317 

there is an enormous fish, on whose head the goddess 
of mercy, Kwan-yin, is always sitting, and that so 
long as the priests in any part of the empire are 
knocking on a kind of wooden drum — which is said 
to be shaped like the head of the fish — so long he 
remains perfectly quiet ; but if a moment of interval 
occurs in which, throughout the whole country, some 
one is not tapping on one of these drums, in that 
moment the fish experiences an itching sensation, and 
instantly begins to wriggle, which produces the 
commotion called by the natives te doong — " earth 
moving" — which continues till the priests begin to 
beat their drums again. This is supposed to act on 
the fish as a soothing ointment to an itching surface, 
and such another drumming as then began is not 
often heard. Another sage theory is, that the earth 
suddenly takes a freak to slide off 36.000 miles into 
space, and the rapidity of the movement causes the 
" earth shake." One very intelligent Chinaman 
gravely told me, that on that occasion the earth was 
shaken from its customary level into a slightly in- 
clined position, and that on the following night, at 
precisely the same hour, it would shake back again 
to its original horizontality ! I saw him on the day 
after, and asked him if he felt the rectifying shake. 
' No,' he replied, ' but it certainly did take place.' 

The Chinese divide their time into cycles of sixty 
years each. Every one of these years has a particu- 
lar name, and the name of each year is also applied 
to some one month of that year, to some one day of 
that month, and to some one hour of that day. The 
people say, that if an " earth shake " should occur at 
that particular hour, of that day, of that month, of 



318 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

that year, the earth would be resolved into its origi- 
nal chaos ! It did occur, they say, on niung-tsz day, 
of niung-tsz month, of niung-tsz year, but not on 
niung-tsz hour. So, thanks to that big fish, the 
celestial empire has not yet relapsed into a chaos of 
matter corresponding to its already existing chaos of 
mind. 

The seasons do not begin among the Chinese, as 
with us, always on the same day of the month, nor 
even on the same month ; the spring sometimes be- 
ginning on the twelfth month, and sometimes on the 
first, of the year. It began for the year 1853, on the 
twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month, which was 
the 3d of February. The time is calculated at 
Peking and published abroad throughout the empire. 
On the appointed day, five of the civil mandarins 
of Shanghai — as it appertains to this class only, the 
military mandarins taking no part in the ceremony — 
went forth to " welcome the spring." 

A very rude representation of an ox had been 
made of paper, pasted over a frame-work of bamboo, 
about five feet long and three feet high. The head, 
horns, feet and tail, were of black paper ; the neck 
and belly were of blue ; the legs, of white, and the 
back and sides, comprising the greater part of the 
surface of the body, were of yellow. These colors 
are arranged from year to year, according to the 
directions in the "Book of Ceremonies" issued at 
Peking. This paper ox is regarded as prognosticat- 
ing the character of the coming year, by the relative 
quantity of each color employed in its construction. 
The amount of black indicates the proportion of sick, 
ness and death. That of blue, of w T inds ; that of 



ECLIPSES AND EARTHQUAKES. 319 

white, of rains and floods ; that of red, of fire ; of 
which color there was none in this ox. The yellow 
denotes the products of the earth, and as this color 
predominated, the people expect a year of plenty. 

This ox was made at the premises of the Che-hee?i, 
the district magistrate, or mayor, of Shanghai, and 
thence carried by two coolies, with the horizontal 
frame on which it stood, to the " Welcoming spring 
temple " a half mile south of the city, near the banks 
of the river Hwang-pu. 

The idol called Ta-sue — the Great year — which is 
supposed to preside over the year, was also taken 
from its place in the Ching-wong-miau — the city 
guardian's temple — and carried by two bearers in a 
small common sedan, following the paper ox to 'the 
temple above mentioned. This idol is always in the 
form of a small boy, said to be the deified son of the 
emperor Chau-sin, who flourished about 2,000 years 
ago, and was the last of the Shang dynasty, as well 
as one of the most infamous and cruel in the annals 
of Chinese history. The image of Ta-sue is attired 
differently each year, to indicate the character of the 
year, which is to be interpreted just the opposite of 
what the dress seems to signify. On this occasion, 
the image being bareheaded, it is inferred that there 
will be much cold. Wearing a white robe, which 
would under other circumstances augur much rain, a 
diy year is looked for. 

This idol and the u spring ox" were placed side by 
side, under a roof on the right of the open court 
within the entrance of the temple. A blank sheet of 
yellow paper, about three feet by two, pasted on an 
upright frame, at the left hand of the sedan contain- 



\ 

320 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

ing Ta-sue, represented the reigning emperor, Hien- 
foong. 

About noon, a procession consisting of the live 
civil mandarins, in their court attire, viz., the super- 
intendent of the criminal department, the superin- 
tendent of the rivers and canals in this district, the 
assistant superintendent of the department of taxes, 
the literary chancellor, and the mayor of this district 
with their trains of attendants, came through the 
great South Gate to the temple, and performed the 
usual prostrations and "knock heads" before the 
image of Ta-sue, standing in its sedan, and before 
the emperor's representative — the sheet of yellow 
paper — while incense sticks and red wax candles 
were burning before both. Preceding the mandarins 
in the procession, were first, a small junk decked 
with flags, and borne by two men. This was de- 
signed to represent one of the emperor's tribute-grain 
junks. Next came a beggar, dressed like a manda- 
rin, following on foot. He is called the "spring 
mandarin," and personifies an officer of very distin 
guished rank, who bore that title in ancient times. 
Then several coarsely dressed men, as tillers of the 
soil, and after them were eight fantastically attired 
fellows, much resembling with their painted faces the 
pictures we sometimes see of clowns or king's fools. 
These sustained the dignified characters of genii. 
Next were several square trays, the four corners of 
which supported small frames two or three feet 
high, and from these were suspended miniature sign 
boards, bearing the names of the various trades and 
handicrafts in the empire. These were called the 
" 360 hongs." When the ceremony was concluded, 



ECLIPSES AND EARTHQUAKES. 321 

the actors in it all returned, entering the city by the 
great East Gate, the idol and the paper ox being 
carried along in the procession through the streets. 

On arriving at the Che-heeri's office, the ox was 
beaten with sticks, according to the usual custom, by 
several of the attendants. The paper being thus 
torn, seeds of cotton, rice, beans, wheat, and some 
other kinds of grain, having been beforehand placed 
in the cavity of its body, fell to the ground — the 
relative abundance of the crop of each kind being 
foretold from the order of succession in which they 
fell out. There is, also, a great number of small, 
clay figures of oxen, in the same cavity, and these 
are taken ont or picked up — there being a general 
scramble for them — by whomsoever of the attend- 
ants, or bystanders, may be able to get near enough 
to seize one. 

In some parts of China the " spring ox " is made of 
mud, of colossal dimensions, and is actually wor- 
shipped by the mandarins at the same time with the 
other objects before named. These ceremonies are per- 
formed, according to an expression in one of the Five 
Classics " to send away the cold of winter, and to 
welcome the warmth of spring." 

As " welcoming the spring " is a ceremony per- 
formed by the civil mandarins only, so " welcoming 
the god of joy" — He-shin — falls within the province 
of only the military officers. It was attended to with 
all due formality on Thursday, the 17th of February, 
1853, because this day, being the 10th of the 1st 
month, was found, upon reference to the Book of 
Ceremonies, to be one of the fortunate days, not only 
for observing rites of this kind, but also for marrying, 

14* 



322 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

beginning to build, or entering upon any other new 
undertaking. 

It is asserted in that book that the god of joy 
comes from certain points of the compass on certain 
days ; but if any of these days happen to be among 
those'named as unlucky, the mandarins do not go out 
to meet the happy divinity, but select a lucky day, 
and then look into the Book of Ceremonies, to ascer- 
tain from what quarter the "god of joy " will come 
on that day. The day above-mentioned having been 
fixed upon, it w r as found, upon inspection, that this 
deity would be met with toward the southeast. 
Consequently, on the forenoon of this day, the lieu- 
tenant-colonel, the major, and eight or ten captains 
and lieutenants, with about two hundred soldiers, 
marched in procession from the residence of the offi- 
cer first named, through the great South Gate of the 
city to the parade-ground beyond. The officers w T ere 
in what we may call their undress uniform, with the 
exception of two, who wore the full military equip- 
ments, consisting of coats of mail made of satin cov- 
ered with brass nails, and unwieldy helmets of poh 
ished iron, which had for plumes heavy sticks nearly 
two feet long, with a little plush on the top and some 
red horse-hair about the middle. 

In the centre of the parade-ground was a tent, 
under which stood a table, having incense sticks and 
red wax candles burning on it. 

On arriving at the spot, the soldiers were formed 
into ranks on either side, while the lieutenant-colonel 
got out of his sedan, and all the other officers alighted 
from their ponies and walked through the temple, at 
one end of the ground, into a room, and there wor- 



ECLIPSES AND EARTHQUAKES. 32o 

shipped the picture of a female who lived in ancient 
times and was distinguished for her bravery. She is 
said to have sacrificed her own life in rescuing her 
father, who was an officer of high grade, and with his 
men was surrounded and about to be captured by his 
enemies. The legend says she was killed by the ex- 
plosion of a cannon which she discharged at the foe 
with her own hands. For this act of filial devotion 
she was deified with the title of Ke-tuh-shin — the 
"god of flags and banners." 

Having duly gone through with the customary 
acts of worship before this image, the mandarins all 
came out, and walking to the tent, prostrated them- 
selves and worshipped before the table containing 
the incense sticks and candles. This was designed to 
honor the "god of joy," which is never represented 
by an image of any kind. They perform these acts of 
adoration to secure the victory for themselves, should 
the necessity for fighting arise during the year. 

After these ceremonies, the officers returned to the 
temple, the whole front of which is open, and its 
floor is elevated about two feet above the surround- 
ing level. There the lieutenant-colonel sat behind a 
table, while the other officers stood on his left to wit- 
ness the clumsy evolutions of the infantry in petti- 
coats discharging their matchlocks, the sham valor of 
the swordsmen in single combat, and the dexterity of 
the archers in missing a target as large as a cart- 
wheel, thirty or forty yards distant. 

Rewards in copper coins, tin badges, and gaudily 
embroidered tobacco pouches, were then distributed 
to those of the single combatants who were most 
supple in jumping and rolling over on the ground, 



324 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

and to the most skillful of the archers. These pre- 
miums were acknowledged by the soldiers being 
drawn up in file and kneeling before the lieutenant- 
colonel. When these ridiculous attempts at a dis- 
play of military prowess were ended, the officers 
and troops returned to the city by the nearest paths, 
being prevented by a fall of rain from entering in 
procession, the great East Gate and marching through 
the streets, according to the original programme. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE GREAT REBELLION. 

Place of Origin — Progress — Title of the Leader— Strange Doctrines 
— Knowledge of Old Testament — Anxiety of Foreigners — Arrival 
of Hon. Humphrey Marshall — Bayard Taylor- — Attempt of the 
" Susquehannah " — Failure — Successful Trip of the " Hermes " 
— Sir George Bonham — Chin-kiang-fu — Grand Canal — Grain for 
Peking — Capt. Fishbourne — An Attack from the Insurgents — Arri- 
val at Nanking — Interview with the Insurgents — Their Books — A « 
Second Attack — Fire returned — Return of the "Hermes" — Set out 
myself — Trip up the Yang-tsz-kiang — Appearance of the Country 
— Foo-shan — Occurrences at a Village — Our Native Assistant — 
Kiang-Yin — Pirates — Dead bodies — Burnt Junks — Running a 
Blockade — "Silver Island" — Its Temples — Destruction of Idols — 
Forlorn Priests — Timidity of Boatmen — Return to Shanghai. 

The foreign residents in China had, for several years, 
been aware that a rebellion existed in Kwang-si — the 
" Western Kwang " — the province lying west from 
Kwang-tung, or Canton — the " Eastern Kwang." It 
however attracted but little attention till early in the 
year 1853, when we were astounded by the intelli- 
gence that the insurgent army had made a series of 
rapid and triumphant marches northeastwardly, and 
having laid siege to the city of Nanking, they had 
carried it by storm. About the same time, copies of 
proclamations by the leader of the movement, who 
styled himself Tai-Ping-Wong — " Great Pacificating 
King" — reached us at Shanghai, and surprised us 



326 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

even more by their contents, than had the unparal- 
leled successes and victorious progress of his army. 
They contained accounts of the Creation, the Deluge, 
the captivity of the Israelites in Egypt, and their 
delivery under Moses ; then, subsequently, of the 
incarnation and death of Jesus, the Son of God. 
Strong denunciations of idolatry then followed, and 
earnest exhortations to the people to abandon it and 
worship the "True God," and, at the same time, to 
throw off the yoke and exterminate the race of the 
Tartar usurpers, who had, besides other grievous acts 
of oppression that were enumerated, compelled the 
Chinese to submit to the degrading custom of shaving 
the head and wearing tails like monkies ! This was 
to be abolished, and all his followers wore their 
hair long, and confined upon the top of the head 
by a sort of turban. Hence they were designated 
in the imperialist official documents " long-haired 
rebels." 

There was no intimation of their disposition or 
designs toward foreigners, and as their advances had 
been so rapid and hitherto irresistible as to afford 
reasonable ground for the probability that the gov- 
ernment would soon fall into their hands, it was 
desirable to ascertain, as soon as possible, how they 
were affected, and what would be their policy toward 
us. It was rumored that they were hostile, and in- 
tended to drive us all from the country. This opinion 
was diligently fostered by the imperialist officials 
at Shanghai, in order to enlist the formidable arm of 
foreign intervention against the insurgents. 

The United States steam frigate " Susquehanna " 
arrived about the last of March, bringing our newly- 



THE GREAT REBELLION. 327 

appointed Commissioner to China, the Hon. Hum- 
phrey Marshall, and that prince of recent travellers, 
Bayard Taylor, whose acquaintance I formed, and 
whom I accompanied in several walks in and about 
Shanghai, pointing out to him some of the various 
objects of curiosity which he has so well described 
in one of his volumes. We found him an exceed- 
ingly agreeable and unassuming gentleman, but no 
aspect in which we could exhibit the Chinese, seemed 
to excite in him the least pulse of that pleasing and 
enthusiastic interest which no other people on earth 
had failed to kindle to a greater or less degree. 

On the 1st of April, the Susquehanna, with Col. 
Marshall and Bayard Taylor on board, attempted 
a trip up the Yang-tsz-kiang to Nan-king ; but, hav_ 
ing no pilots who were sufficiently acquainted with 
that river, and the vessel being of very heavy draught, 
she ran aground several times, and finally returned, 
having been but a few miles. Some days later, on 
the 22d, Sir George Bonham, the Governor of Hong- 
Kong, having arrived, they proceeded up the river in 
the light British war-steamer " Hermes " to seek an 
interview with the insurgent chiefs. 

In the meantime, Chin-kiang-fu had fallen be- 
fore the victorious troops of Tai-ping-wong. This 
is a walled city of great strength and importance, 
situated at the junction of the Grand Canal with 
the Yang-tsz. It is the gate to the granary, which 
supplies not only Peking, but all the northern part 
of China. Through it, thousands of enormous grain- 
junks have hitherto passed annually, laden wifh rice 
for the emperor, his numerous household, troops and 
dependents in the northern provinces. The staple 



328 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

supply for the capital was thus cut off. The only 
resource left the Imperialists was, to send the rice 
around by sea ; but, besides being insufficient in 
quantity, it was much injured by salt-water, and 
great distress at Peking was the result. 

When the Hermes came up the river opposite the 
walls of this city, the insurgents fired into her, suppos- 
ing, as they had been informed, that the " Outer-coun- 
try Fire-wheel-ship " had come to fight against them 
on the side of their enemies. The admiral in com- 
mand of the imperialist fleet, taking advantage of the 
presence of the Hermes, followed on close in her 
" wake " and opened fire upon the city. This gave 
additional strength to the impression that the steamer 
was actually in the service of the emperor. 

The river being two miles wide at this point, and 
the steamer keeping near the northern bank, was 
nearly out of reach of their cannon-shot, and passed 
on, having been struck several times but not seriously 
injured. With commendable forbearance her pru- 
dent commander, Capt. Fishbourne, did not return 
the fire, but kept on his way to Nan-king. Here, 
too, at first, a battery on the shore opened upon the 
Hermes, until five large Chinese characters, which 
the captain had now taken the precaution to have 
inscribed on the side of his vessel, signifying " we 
come to communicate, not to fight" were read by the 
assailants, when they desisted. Some of their petty 
officers then visited the steamer, and a boat containing 
the interpreter, and several officers, was sent ashore. 
The visit was returned by many of the insurgents, 
who disavowed any intention to interfere with foreign- 
ers in this warfare, and professed for them a friendly 



THE GREAT REBELLION. 329 

regard ; but would not allow them to see their chief, 
Tai-ping-wong, and manifested little disposition to 
conciliate — still less to secure foreign aid against the 
imperialists — appearing perfectly satisfied of their 
ability to take care of themselves and fight their own 
battles. Capt. Fishbonrne informed them that he 
had been fired into by their forces in Chin-kiang-fu. 
They then assured him that they would immediately 
6end word to the general in command of the division 
in that city, and that the act should not be repeated. 
They also presented their British visitors with copies 
of eight different pamphlets, or tracts, among which 
were found one containing the first twenty-seven 
chapters of the book of Genesis, from Dr. GutzlafT's 
version ; another containing the Ten Commandments, 
with a very sensibly written commentary on each, 
and including opium-smoking as prohibited in the 
seventh ; a third contained forms of prayer and 
nymns for morning and evening worship, and for 
other occasions. But contrary to their promise, the 
steamer on her return trip, a few days after, was 
again fired upon when passing Chin-kiang-fu. This 
being so manifest a violation of good faith, Capt. 
Fishbourne felt called upon to respond after the same 
manner ; accordingly he discharged fifty-three rounds 
of shell into the city. Those books, among others 
brought by the Hermes, on her return, which was on 
the 2d of May, filled the missionaries, especially, with 
great joy. But it was evident, that although these 
revolutionists had isolated fragments of the New 
Testament doctrines, yet they had none of its books 
entire. And as it then seemed highly probable that 
they would soon become masters of the empire, it 



330 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

was exceedingly desirable that they should have the 
New Testament especially, from which to learn the 
doctrines of a pure and perfect Christianity. Then 
the question arose, How were they to obtain them ? 
Here was a difficulty, for they were closely besieged 
on land and blockaded on the river by the numerous 
forces of the imperialists, cutting off all communica- 
tion with them from without. I determined, how- 
ever, to make the attempt to reach them ; so hiring a 
native covered boat, for which an exorbitant price 
was required, because of the perilous character of the 
enterprise, taking a carpet-bag and another coarse 
bag, both filled with copies of the Gospels, and other 
tracts, together with a spy-glass, and a carnal weapon 
in the shape of an old United States musket, with 
which to frighten the river-pirates, I embarked on the 
second day of June, on the Hwang-pu, and with a 
favorable wind and tide, soon reached Woo-sung, 
where we passed near the United States sloop-of-war 
" Plymouth," which was on her way to join the 
squadron for Japan. There were many imperialist 
war-junks at anchor, but our unpretending little craft 
attracted no attention from those on board, for they 
little imagined either the contents or its destination ; 
so we sailed close along under their guns, and soon 
were out on the broad and muddy bosom of the 
" Child of the Ocean," the great river Yang-tsz. 

Some sixty miles from its mouth is an island, called 
Tsung-Ming, forming its delta. This is directly op- 
posite the village of Woo-Sung, from which it is 
scarcely visible, being very low and flat, and some 
fifteen or twenty miles distant. After passing this 
island on your westward course, you seem to be at 



THE GREAT REBELLION. 331 

sea, for as your little boat keeps near the southern 
shore, the one opposite is not in sight till you have 
advanced, perhaps thirty miles on your journey. 
The country on both sides of this river is perfectly 
level, and of amazing fertility, for more than a hun- 
dred miles from its mouth. Then you will see a 
small cluster of hills on the north, several miles 
inland. They are called Long-Shan, and the highest 
of them is surmounted by a pagoda. Nearly opposite 
these hills, on the south bank, is the little walled 
town of Foo-Shan, which is so called from a very 
diminutive hill of that name, near which it stands. 
Shan is the Chinese for hill or mountain. A most 
luxuriant growth of vegetation, of small trees and 
bamboo groves, skirts the river on both sides, and 
extends many miles into the interior. When it is 
remembered that I am writing of China, it is scarcely 
necessary to say all these lands are under the highest 
possible state of cultivation. Their fertility must be 
absolutely inexhaustible, or two thousand years of 
tillage would have produced some signs of wearing 
out. All along may be seen regularly laid-out fields 
and vegetable gardens, while numerous cottages — 
some of brick and some of mud and straw, some 
covered with tiles and some with thatch — diversify 
the scene. It must be borne in mind that this was 
not my first attempt to visit the insurgents. On the 
former occasion, three weeks before, I was accompa- 
nied by our native assistant, Lieu-seen-sang, and we 
spent our second night at this town. Our third was 
at the mouth of a creek, at a village called Siau-sing- 
kiang, only twenty miles from Foo-Shan, but on the 
north side of the river. Here — as we arrived before 



332 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

sunset, not being able to reach the next stopping- 
place before dark, and it is unsafe to be on the river 
at night on account of pirates — the banks were soon 
filled with natives crowding one another and strain- 
ing their eyes to see what they had never before seen 
— an " outer-country man." We w r ent on shore and 
walked through the village, followed by multitudes 
of men, women and children, staring with eager 
curiosity, for I was dressed in the costume of my na- 
tive land. After a while we came to a bank about six 
feet high, and selecting it for a pulpit, Lieu ascended, 
and preached in mandarin, which they understood. 
They listened w T ith the most absorbing interest, and 
not an individual seemed to move — scarcely to 
breathe. It looked like a mass of upturned human 
faces that had become petrified at a moment of in- 
tensely earnest gaze. Darkness came on, and yet 
they stood as if nailed to the spot. Lieu ceased, and 
then they clamored so vehemently for the foreigner 
to preach also, that I addressed them in the Shanghai 
dialect, with Lieu for an interpreter. He then prayed, 
and upon their urgent invitation we accompanied 
them to a neighboring tea-tavern and took some 
refreshment — the throng still pressing us and asking 
questions. One of the company said he had a book 
containing the doctrines we had preached. At my 
request he ran to his house and soon returning, pro- 
duced a Christian tract, which he said had been given 
him at Ningpo, whither he had been some months 
before. We returned to our boats laden with their 
thanks, and at daybreak the next morning resumed 
our voyage. Beyond Foo-Shan some twenty miles, the 
country on the south side of the river is broken by 



THE GREAT REBELLION. 333 

ranges of hills, which extend with little intermission 
to Nan-king, and probably beyond. But the northern 
shore continues level through all this distance. The 
river varies in width from one to five miles. It has 
many islands and shoals, which render its navigation 
difficult, especially as the channel is constantly chang- 
ing. Native vessels of every description, from the skiff 
of the fisherman to the clumsy war-junk, are always 
plying on its waters. Forty miles from Foo-Shan you 
find, on the south bank, the walled city Kiang- Yin, a 
quiet place of some importance, very prettily situated 
at the foot of a range of hills. Here we had passed 
our fourth night on the former trip, in company with 
many other boats, which had hauled up at this city, 
for the purpose of mutual security against any attack 
of pirates during the night. We had made but 
twenty miles that day also, in consequence of the 
light winds and calms, and the time had been occu- 
pied in reading Chinese with my companion. Just 
without the city walls is a dilapidated pagoda, seven 
stories high, and on an adjacent hill is a Buddhist 
temple. 

On the following morning we set out with a fair 
wind, but it died away about noon, leaving us to our 
oars. Night came on before we could reach the next 
mooring station, and it was not long before a suspi- 
cious looking craft that had been hovering about us 
during the day, began to approach near enough to 
convince me that he was a pirate. A discharge 
from my rusty old flint-lock, '76, together with the 
unmistakable report of foreign fire-arms, satisfied him 
that he was pursuing something unusual, so he put 
down his helm and turned off in another direction. 



33i FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

During that day we advanced thirty miles, having 
seen four dead bodies floating down the river, and 
heard heavy cannonading. 

On the day following, we saw three more bodies of 
dead men and met many wrecks of burnt junks, which 
the people living along the river, were securing, 
wherever it was possible, and hauling up on shore for 
firewood. It was quite a harvest to them. I after- 
ward learned that the insurgents had set on fire a 
number of these junks and rafts, laden with various 
combustibles, and then had set them floating down 
the river, in order to burn the imperialist fleet, which 
they came very near accomplishing. It was only by 
slipping their cables and floating down before them 
that the latter escaped. "We also saw the mutilated 
trunk of a large gilt idol lying on the shore. We 
had passed a high promontory on the south side of 
the river, which swept around its base in a long 
curve and with great swiftness. Its summit was 
crowned with a temple and a pagoda. Sunset found 
us in sight of the imperialist fleet ; but the wind had 
ceased and we anchored for the night, as we sup- 
posed, a short distance from the northern shore. We 
had taken our supper of boiled rice and greens with 
our chopsticks as usual, and composed ourselves to 
rest upon the broad plank seats of our boat. About 
nine o'clock, however, I discovered that the wind had 
sprung up from the east, fresh and favorable. There- 
upon, I roused my reluctant boatmen, made them pull 
up the anchor and hoist the sail. A few minutes brought 
us within hailing distance of one of the war-junks, 
then another, and another, and another ; for we were 
soon in the midst of the fleet. It was too dark for 



THE GREAT REBELLION. 335 

them to see us ; but the splashing of our little boat 
as she dashed on through the water attracted their 
attention. We were hailed several times and 
threatened with being fired upon. I had enjoined 
perfect silence, but my boatmen, who were very 
much alarmed, wished to comply with the command 
to " come to," and go up alongside. I, however, 
positively forbade it, and said, " let them fire — they 
are poor marksmen at best, for it is seldom they 
can hit an object they can see in the daytime, and it 
is not likely they can hit us in this dark night." So 
with threats, promises and encouragements I prevailed 
with my men, and we finally, having thus run the 
gauntlet for two miles, left the fleet behind us, and 
then anchored a second time for the night, near the 
shore, at a point where it was overhung with a 
thicket of willows. I knew it would not do for us to 
be found there, so before daylight I wakened my 
companions, and we were proceeding as quietly and 
cautiously as possible, when w r e discovered there were 
yet two or three Portuguese lorchas to be passed. 
These are vessels resembling schooners, and there 
were twenty-four in this fleet, hired by the imperi- 
alists. In the dim grey light of breaking dawn I saw 
their armed sentinels pacing their decks to and fro ; 
but we were not observed by them, and in an hour 
more we were on the landing-steps of well-hewn 
granite, at a most beautiful island named Kiau-Shan, 
but called by foreigners "-Silver Island," because it 
seems to be a twin with " Golden Island," which is 
but three miles further up the river, and was described 
in a former chapter, as I had visited it a year before. 
Here we were met by several forlorn-looking priests s 



336 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

who approached us at first with great timidity ; but 
on being addressed in their own language, and 
assured that we would do them no harm, their fears 
were gradually overcome, and they accompanied us 
in our survey of the beauties and ruins of the place. 

Silver Island is a hill rising from the bed of the 
river, covered with a rank growth of trees and shrub- 
bery, and overlooks the city of Chin-kiang-fu, which 
is only two miles distant. There are many temples 
on this island, some of them exceedingly beautiful 
and costly, but the insurgents have utterly demolished 
every idol. So gratifying a scene of devastation I 
certainly never before beheld. The priests told us 
that the "long-haired men" had been there and had 
destroyed their idols, telling them of a being whom 
they called the "True God," who created all things, 
and that they should worship Him only. Here were 
gilded and painted fragments of images strewn about 
in every direction, while the wood, clay and straw of 
which the larger idols had been made, covered the 
floors to the depth of one or two feet. The altars 
and tables, incense vases and candlesticks, Buddhist 
books, and all the paraphernalia of idolatrous wor- 
ship, were broken, torn, and scattered here and there 
in irrecoverable ruin ; and this, too, by the very ones 
who, not three years ago, were willing votaries at 
just such shrines. The images of stone were thrown 
down from their pedestals and had their heads 
knocked off. But I found one, about two feet high, 
in a sitting posture, richly gilt and very heavy, w T hose 
head had successfully resisted the hammers of the 
iconoclasts. It was lying with its face on the earth, 
and the enraged expression of its features seemed to 



THE GREAT REBELLION. 337 

show a strong resentment at the indignity thus cast 
upon it. By the help of two of my boatmen, with a 
pole and rope, I brought away this chap, and he now 
sits in sullen silence near me, while I relate the story 
of his wrongs. I also brought away many pieces of 
wooden gilded idols—heads, hands, feet, thumbs, 
fingers, and the like. This was by the cheerful per- 
mission of the twelve or fifteen priests, who were all 
that remained on the island out of a hundred — the 
majority having fled in their boats to the main land, 
on the approach of the insurgents. To these poor, 
forlorn bonzes I gave many books and tracts, besides 
a small sum of money, for they seemed quite desti- 
tute — and with the aid of Lieu, the Christian native 
whom I had brought with me, exhorted them not to 
grieve over the destruction of these senseless blocks, 
and showed unto them " a more excellent way." We 
had assembled them in an apartment of one of the 
temples for this purpose, and it was most interesting 
to observe the attention with which they seemed to 
drink in the good news of salvation through Jesus 
Christ No time, place, or circumstance, could have 
been more opportune for the exhibition of Christian 
truth. For just as all their sandy foundations had 
been swept away, and the strongest possible evidence 
of the utter inability of their idols to save or help 
even themselves, lay spread around, we pointed them 
to a Hock on which they might build and be eternally 
secure. These tidings came to them as a life-boat to 
a wreck. Here were the miserable fragments of 
their shattered craft, to which they were clinging 
with all the forlornness of despair. But their faces 
lightened with hope when the good, staunch ship of 

15 



338 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

Christianity hove in sight, and sent a boat to save 
them. 

I then desired my boatman to cross over to the south- 
ern shore, and proceed along up to Chin-kiang-fu. 
But having seen the smoking ruins of the buildings 
outside the walls, which the insurgents had burned 
lest the imperialist army should find shelter among 
them in their assaults upon the city ; and seeing, 
also, from the summit of the hill on Silver Island 
the warlike display of flags and banners flying on the 
walls and fortifications, they positively refused to go 
any nearer, and I was compelled to allow them to 
return to Shanghai. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

SECOND TRIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 

New Boatmen — Run the Blockade again — Refusal of Boatmen to 
Proceed — Going Alone on Foot — A M Levee " on the River-bank — 
A Foot-path — Approach to Fortifications — Difficult Progress — Ob- 
structions — Entering the Fortress — A Strange Visitor — Appear- 
ance of the Insurgents — Motley Crowds — Arms and Defences — 
Condition of Chin-kiang-fu — Strange Sounds — General Lo — 
Awkward Mistake — Presenting him a Bag of Copies of the Gospels 
— The Costume of the Soldiers — Morning "Worship — Asking a 
Blessing — Unfortunate Coincidence — Attack by Imperialists — Sus- 
pected of being a Spy — Letter of General Lo — Cavalcade by 
Torchlight — Provisions — A Night on a War-Junk — Effort to re- 
move Suspicion — Medical Relief — Extract from Journal. 

Far from being satisfied with the result of this effort, 
I procured a set of boatmen on whose courage I 
thought I could rely more confidently, embarked a 
second time as already narrated, and proceeded once 
more to Silver Island. 

To reach this spot I had again to run the blockade 
by the Imperial fleet, which consisted of near a hun- 
dred sail of war junks, Portuguese lorchas, and, to 
their shame be it said, five English and American 
vessels, with their crews, who had hired themselves 
to aid the Tartar usurpers in this unrighteous warfare, 
for sustaining their corrupt dynasty and perpetuating 
idolatry among an entire third of the human family. 
We passed directly under the guns of one of these 



34:0 FIVE YEARS IN CHTNA. 

foreign vessels, and stopped at Silver Island until 
nightfall, when we crossed over to the southern shore 
and anchored till morning, under a steep, rocky bluff. 
My boatmen this time also, proved to be very timid, 
and absolutely refused to go any nearer Chin-kiang-fu. 
For, besides the blockade by the fleet, the Imperial 
army besieging that city was encamped on some hills 
in sight. We had also learned that, seeing foreign 
vessels in the hostile fleet, the insurgents had sup- 
posed foreigners generally were enlisted against 
them, and had issued a proclamation offering a 
reward of five thousand dollars for the head of any 
" outside-country man." Xo inducement would pre- 
vail with my boatmen to advance any further, and 
they endeavored to dissuade me from the attempt, 
saying that if I persisted, they felt certain I would 
never come back alive. Iso alternative was then left 
me between returning, or going alone on foot to the 
stronghold of the insurgents. So, at daybreak the 
next morning I landed, against the earnest entreaties 
of my companions, taking with me a carpet-bag filled 
with copies of the Gospels and other Christian tracts, 
and finding a path leading along the bank of the 
river, now through dense thickets of reeds, and then 
on the top of a dike, which had been thrown up to 
prevent inundation, as related in a former chapter. 
I had visited this city by the inland route from 
Shanghai a year before, disguised in Chinese costume. 
"With this exception, no foreigner had been here since 
its capture by the British, after the most sanguinary 
battle of the war, eleven years before. Kor was I 
insensible to the danger of thus approaching it alone 
and defenceless, since it was to be presumed the 



SECOND TRIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 341 

present occupants had conceived no very favorable 
feelings toward foreigners, from the fifty-three rounds 
of shell by the Hermes, which were supposed to have 
taken terrible effect. I knew all this, and thought 
much upon it, and upon the possibilities and proba- 
bilities of a rough, perhaps fatal reception. And yet 
I walked on with a cheerful hopefulness that amount- 
ed almost to an assurance of my safety. The city 
stands a third of a mile from the river, in an amphi- 
theatre of hills on the east, south and west. A steep, 
narrow ridge runs from the northeastern gate to the 
river, where it terminates at the water's edge in a 
high, precipitous, rocky promontory. On the top of 
this bluff are a temple, an imperial pavilion, and a 
cast iron pagoda nine stories high — the octagonal 
piece forming the wall of each story is one casting, 
and its projecting roof with curved corners, is an- 
other. The interior is entirely filled with brick 
masonry, and as the stories are of diminutive size, 
the whole structure is not more than fifty feet high. 
Still, it is quite a curiosity as a work of ancient art, 
for it is said to be several hundred years old. The 
pavilion is simply a quadrangular pyramidal roof, 
with curved slopes, ornamented after the usual style 
of Chinese architecture, and supported by four gra- 
nite pillars. This promontory, with its edifices, had 
been converted into a garrison by the insurgents. A 
stockade had been thrown up along on the top of the 
ridge, beginning at the wall of the city and running 
around the summit of the bluff. It consisted of a 
double row of stakes ten feet high, driven into the 
ground and walled, or rather boarded up, with the 
doors, shutters and floors of the shops and dwellings 



342 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

in the city, and the intervening space of five feet was 
filled in with earth. I found this hill, and indeed 
the whole city, fortified with great strength, and a 
degree of military skill that was quite surprising. 
For several hundred yards the approach to it at this 
point, which was a wide, smooth path, a year before, 
was rendered exceedingly difficult by means, first, of 
a deep ditch, which I jumped across; then the high 
bank, up and over which I climbed ; then a fence of 
palisades, through which I succeeded, after some 
danger to my clothes, in finding my way. Next, a 
number of trees cut down and thrown in the way, 
with the boughs pointing outward, called by military 
men, dbattis ; then another row of palisades and more 
abattis. J^"ext, a quantity of coups de lowps, i. e., pit- 
falls, or round holes, a foot in diameter and two feet 
deep, dug so near each other as to give the spot the 
appearance of a piece of honey-comb. These holes 
had been covered with straw, but as some unsus- 
pecting Imperialists had probably attempted to walk 
that way before myself, and had evidently walked 
into the holes, I profited by their experience and 
cautiously picked my path among them. Beyond 
these, were great numbers of strong, bamboo splints, 
driven firmly into the ground and sharpened. They 
projected about four inches, and stood so thickly 
together that, after taking a step, I had to stand on 
one foot and look about with the greatest care for a 
place in which to put the other. Then more pali- 
sades and abattis, and another ditch, deep and wide, 
with a long plank for crossing it ; that is for the rebels 
to cross when they wished, but not for me, for it was 
pulled over on their side. So, after throwing my 



SECOND TRIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 343 

carpet-bag of books across, I jumped almost across ; 
but, as the sides were nearly perpendicular, might as 
well have not jumped at all, that is, if the old adage, 
" a miss is as good as a mile " be true, and it was 
true in that instance, for my experience convinced 
me that the properties of mud and water were the 
same near the bank of a ditch as in the middle. I 
clambered out according to the most approved 
method, and thus reached the foot of the steep hill. 
Discovering men on the summit, I made a signal to 
them, and they beckoned to me to come on. I 
pointed to my carpet-bag, and gave them to under- 
stand, by the language of signs, that I was fatigued 
and would like some assistance, particularly as there 
were more sharpened bamboo sticks, and another 
ditch half way up the hill. Whereupon one of them 
came down, replied briefly to my salutation, and 
taking the carpet-bag, led the way up the rough 
ascent. Just as the sun was rising we entered the 
stockade by a large port-hole, and in a moment more 
I was surrounded by a motley crowd of dark-visaged, 
" long-haired " men and boys, armed with swords, 
matchlocks and long spears, with small, triangular, 
yellow flags, flying from the points. Many of them 
had their hair fastened up on the top of the head by 
small turbans of red and yellow silk. Their uniform 
was multiform, apparently from the want of a suffi- 
cient quantity of cloth or silk of the requisite colors, 
which appeared to be yellow for their close jackets, 
and red or blue for their loose pantaloons. As it 
was, their garments were as diversified in color as 
were the soldiers themselves in age, size, cast of 
countenance and dialect, for they had been gathered 



344: FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

from the several provinces through which the patriot 
army had passed in its victorious march from 
Kwang-si northward, to the capture of Nanking, 
the ancient capital of the empire. I thus found 
myself a new and unexpected arrival in the midst 
of these fierce-looking "long-haired men" who 
crowded about me in great numbers, and with eager 
curiosity to learn whence I came, who I was, and 
what brought me. To these inquiries I replied that 
I was from Shanghai, that I was an American, and 
my name was Taylor. With reference to my busi- 
ness there, I requested to be conducted to their high- 
est officer in the city, to whom I would make known 
my object in visiting them. Being very anxious to 
have me tell them at once, they showed me the way 
into a well-furnished hall and had tea brought for 
me, having first desired me to be seated in one of the 
many cushioned chairs ranged along in two rows, 
facing each other, up and down the middle of the 
large apartment. Alternating with the chairs were 
what we call teapoys — small, square, or oblong stands, 
for holding cups of tea and refreshments. While I 
was sitting here sipping my tea, and the object of 
strange interest to these wild-looking men and boys, 
who had never before seen a foreigner, one who 
seemed to be a subordinate officer came, and seating 
himself by my side, again asked for what I had come. 
Fearing if I should tell him, that having once satisfied 
their -own curiosity, they would not take me to the 
commandant, I resolutely refused to answer any ques- 
tions on that subject till I was conducted to his pre- 
sence. Seeing my determination, they furnished me 
with a guide and an escort of two or three soldiers, 



SECOND TRIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 345 

all armed with long spears and swords. The man 
who, in the first instance, came down the hill for my 
carpet-bag, still kept possession of it and followed on. 
Our path lay along on the narrow ridge before de- 
scribed, within the stockades, which were being rap- 
idly taken down and replaced by a substantial wall 
of brick and stone, three or four feet thick, furnished 
with embrasures and port-holes, through which can- 
non of various calibre were poking their ugly noses. 
The soldier-artisans were working like bees on the 
unfinished portions — some bringing brick, some lay- 
ing them, and some making mortar. My guides were 
frequently asked, as we passed along, who was that 
stranger, and their invariable answer was, Yang 
shoong dee ; i. e., " Foreign brother " — a term of civil- 
ity and affection never before applied to foreigners 
in China. 

We soon came to the northeastern gate of the city, 
through which I had walked a year before. It had 
been completely filled up with heavy stone masonry, 
and now the only access was by a narrow flight of 
stone steps to the top of the wall. Through a narrow 
door in the parapet we entered, and here were again 
surrounded by multitudes of astonished spectators, 
who stared till their eyes seemed ready to leap at me 
from their sockets like so many bullets. Their curi- 
osity being a little, and but a little, abated by the 
answers of my escort — for many of them spoke dia- 
lects which I did not understand — we proceeded on 
through the stone-paved streets, now entirely de- 
serted, but which, when I was here a year ago, dis- 
guised as a native, were teeming with a busy, thri- 
ving population. The inhabitants had all fled at the 

15* 



346 FIVE YEAKS IN CniNA. 

approach of the patriot forces, leaving their shops 
and dwellings, and most of their furniture, .goods, 
utensils, and effects of various kinds. The buildings 
were, for the most part, left standing, but without 
doors and shutters — these all having been taken, as 
before stated, to assist in the construction of stock- 
ades on the hill, and along the river bank fronting 
the city. Tables, chairs, trunks, boxes, bedsteads, 
cooking utensils, etc., lay strewn about in the houses 
or piled up together in confused masses, with straw, 
ashes, bits of paper, rags, and rubbish of every con- 
ceivable description. The contrast with the appear- 
ance of things here the year before, was truly painful, 
and I could but breathe a prayer that the former 
inhabitants of this once populous city might be re- 
stored to their homes again, in the possession of 
Christianity and its blessings, to such an extent as to 
far more than compensate for their present privations, 
losses and inconvenience in exile. As we passed 
along, I saw several very aged men and women, who 
were probably too old and infirm to flee, and per- 
haps, considering they had not long to live at any 
rate, thought they might as well die then, as to drag 
out a few more days of miserable, homeless existence. 
But, probably quite contrary to their expectations, 
their lives were not only spared, but they were fur- 
nished with food, and allowed to retain their dwell- 
ings and property. Still, the poor creatures looked 
the pictures of sorrow, and my heart yearned over 
them as their sun seemed likely to set in clouds and 
darkness. Oh might even their dim eyes be permitted 
to see the dawning of a brighter day than has ever 
yet shone on the " flowery land," and might their 



SECOND TKIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 347 

ears — but stay, had they not already caught some of 
the notes of praise to the one only living and true 
God ? For morning and evening ascended from that 
beleaguered city the doxology : 

" Praise the True God, who is the Imperial Supreme Ruler ; 
Praise Jesus the Saviour of the world ; 
Praise the Holy Divine Influence— the Holy Spirit — 
Praise these three who compose one True God." 

Indeed, these were the first sounds that saluted my 
ears when I entered the garrison, for it was about 
sunrise, and they were engaged in their morning de- 
votions. What words to hear in the heart of the 
most populous pagan empire on the globe, and that, 
too, from lips that five years before were repeating 
the senseless mummeries of idolatrous superstition ! 

"We soon reached some spacious premises that had 
lately been the residence of the chief mandarin of 
the city and surrounding country, but was now the 
headquarters of Lo-ta-yun, the commandant of the 
patriot forces at this place. My escort led the way 
through five successive buildings, and as many open 
courts, all in a line from the street, from which the 
innermost of all, the sixth, is visible. The buildings 
had large yellow curtains flaunting in the breeze, on 
each side of the passage through them. Having 
reached the interior building, which was in fact the 
dwelling, the others being occupied by attendants, 
soldiers, and servants, I was here directed to a seat in 
the large reception hall, which was quite similar in 
its general features to the one into which I had been 
ushered on my first appearance in the garrison. It 
had ornamental lanterns of fantastic shapes, and rich 



348 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

embroidered hangings suspended from the roof and 
about the sides of the apartment. The courtyard in 
front of this, was filled with rare and beautiful flow- 
ers and plants, in unique pots of every size and shape 
I soon inquired for Zo-ta-yun, and on being asked 
why I wished to see him, I replied that 1 should tell 
no one but himself in person. There was here, as 
'before, a crowd of curious spectators, who examined 
my hat and dress, and hands, with much the same in- 
terest with which you would look at a strange animal 
of some heretofore unheard of species, in a mena- 
gerie. It was almost enough to make one doubt of 
himself whether he were indeed of the genus homo. 
Before many minutes a man of middle stature, appa 
rently about forty-live years of age, came out from 
an adjoining room and took a seat near me. He was 
stoutly built, had a well-formed head, and a piercing 
black eye that looked out from under a pair of promi- 
nent, over-arching brows. One of the attendants, 
who afterward acted the part of interpreter for me, 
as he was a kind of secretary to the commandant, 
told me this was Lo-ta-yun. There was no appear- 
ance of an officer in his manner or dress. He had 
on a short blue silk jacket, and dark brown loose 
trowsers. I had formed such an idea of the princely 
appearance of Lo, whose reputation for military 
sagacity and skill had spread his name widely abroad, 
that when this personage made his appearance, so 
destitute was he of the pompous display so common 
to Chinese officials I did not believe he was the man, 
and began to think another attempt was being made 
to hinder me in my design of obtaining access to 
their chief. I frankly expressed my doubts, refusing, 



SECOND TEIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 349 

at the same time, to reply to his interrogatories, and 
requested again, to see the highest officer in the city, 
for I was resolved not to be thwarted in my intention 
to have an interview with Lo himself, if it was in the 
power of perseverance to compass it. 

I have since wondered at his forbearance with my 
pertinacity, when he knew I was so completely in his 
hands. He could have had my head taken off at a v 
word, and never have been called to account for the 
act. I could scarcely credit his repeated assurances 
that he was the man whom I sought to see, and it 
was not until his attendants attired him in his official 
uniform, and he took his seat in the large chair at a 
table in the middle of the hall, and began to issue 
his orders to the soldiers who placed themselves in 
array, and received his commands in the most defe- 
rential manner, that my doubts were quite removed. 
I then informed him fully of myself, my occupation, 
and my object in visiting his camp. At the same 
time I opened my carpet-bag and laid its contents on 
his table. The books were the four Gospels and Acts, 
the book of Genesis, and many other tracts and books 
on the Christian religion. He appeared quite pleased 
in looking at them, and said the doctrines he believed, 
were the same with ours. Notice of my arrival had 
been sent to the second officer in command, and he 
soon came in a large handsome sedan, borne by four 
coolies, and with quite a train of soldiers and attend- 
ants going before and following. He came in, and a 
seat was placed for him at the right of Lo. The uni- 
form of the two was nearly alike, being a yellow silk 
or satin cap, covering the whole head and extending 
in a sort of cape, half-way down the back, leaving 



350 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

only the face exposed. It had a binding of red satin 
an inch and a half wide all around the edge, and 
looked in shape somewhat like the representations of 
the caps or helmets of Egyptian heroes, or of the 
human heads on the monsters represented inLayard's 
Nineveh. Next was a long, richly-figured, satin 
gown, reaching to the ankles, and over this a red, 
figured satin waistcoat, or jacket-like garment, with 
sleeves conveniently loose and short. You know 
they eschew " shaving the head," that being one of 
the abominations introduced by the "fiendish Tar- 
tars." So they have their long hair all twisted or 
braided up, and fastened on the top of the head by a 
piece of yellow silk, answering the purpose of a tur- 
ban, without being as full ; the common soldiers wear 
red silk on the head. All the members and depend- 
ents of Lo's household assembled in the large hall, 
morning and evening, when he or one of his secreta- 
ries read a portion either from the book of Genesis — 
that being the only part of the Bible yet discovered 
among them — or from some of the religious tracts 
written by Tai-ping-woyig himself. After reading, 
during which all present sit and listen attentively, 
they all join in chanting a hymn, alwaj^s closing 
with the doxology above translated. Then each one 
takes the cushion from his chair, and putting it down 
before him on the brick floor, kneels on it in a very 
solemn manner, with his eyes closed, while Lo him- 
self, or the secretary, prays audibly, the rest remain- 
ing perfectly silent. It was the most impressive 
scene I ever witnessed, from the reflections and asso- 
ciations to which it gave rise, and which I must leave 
for the imagination of my readers to supply. The 



SECOND TEIP TO THE INSUKGENT CAMP. 351 

only drawback to its solemnity, to my mind — but 
none in theirs — was the accompaniment to the chant- 
ing, consisting of all the discordant sounds of gongs, 
drums, cymbals, horns, and various other instruments, 
but ill-suited, in our estimation, to produce that de- 
votional feeling so important in Christian worship. 
Breakfast was soon announced, and I was conducted 
into an adjoining room to a square table, with seats 
for two at each side. I was politely invited to sit 
down first, and then seven others, the secretaries and 
officers of Lo, also took their seats. I had heard the 
insurgents were in the habit of saying grace before 
eating, and I wanted to see how this would be done, 
but presently one of them took his chopsticks and 
requested me to do the same, for, as a mark of civility, 
they would not eat till I had begun. I mentioned to 
them what information we foreigners had received 
about their practice of asking a blessing, and they 
immediately replied it was true, and that it had just 
been done in the room from which we came, at the 
conclusion of the prayer. I thereupon informed them 
that it was our custom to ask a blessing at the table, 
and if they had no objection I would do so at that 
time. They very cheerfully assented, and after I had 
finished they seemed quite gratified, saying that the 
spirit and design of the thing was the same, though 
the manner of performing it was different. 

At every meal after this, during my stay, all at the 
table waited for me to ask a blessing. 

In the middle of the room in which we ate was a 
table, on which were placed twelve bowls — three 
each of rice, of meat, of vegetables, and of tea. On 
inquiring the meaning of this, I was told it was 



352 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

designed as an offering to the Supreme Euler— one 
of each kind respectively for the Father, Son and 
Holy Spirit. After being allowed to remain thus for 
some time they were removed, but whether eaten or 
not by others I did not learn. The fact of their pre- 
senting offerings of this kind is proof presumptive 
tliat they had as yet no knowledge of the New Testa- 
ment — a want which I supplied as far as practicable 
on that visit, with what effect time only can reveal. 
I went about freely among the officers and soldiers 
and was allowed to visit any part of the city. In my 
walks through the different streets, I saw many 
blacksmiths and carpenters making warlike imple- 
ments and gun-carriages. They were the only arti- 
sans seen pursuing their regular avocations. I also 
noticed great numbers of boys bearing spears and 
swords, and performing duty with the older soldiers. 
Their stockades and batteries were well provided 
with guns of every size and description, from jinjalls 
to large cannon. Their flags of a triangular form 
were very numerous, inscribed with the name of 
their chief and the title of the new dynasty. On 
repeated inquiries of different individuals, at different 
times and places, as to their numbers, I was uniformly 
told that they were fifty or sixty thousand strong in 
that city. I observed no regularity or order in their 
movements, and yet a state of perfect discipline and 
subordination prevailed. I was struck with the calm 
and earnest enthusiasm that pervaded the entire 
body, and the perfect confidence evinced in the 
justice of their cause and its final success. To my 
frequent inquiries as to when and in what direction 
they would next move, and especially on asking the 



SECOND TRIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 353 

officers when they proposed to come towards Shang- 
hai, they replied, that whenever they received an 
intimation from the Heavenly Father ; as they never 
moved in any quarter without such direction. 

The insurgents abounded in fresh provisions, which 
were brought in clandestinely and sold by the inha- 
bitants of the surrounding country. 

After some hours I returned to my boat to get the 
other bag of tracts, and at the request of General Lo, 
together with his assurance of perfect safety to my 
boatmen, to bring them along with me. I found them 
with the boat a few rods from the spot where I had 
landed, and hid from view on the land-side by the 
tall reeds on the river bank. They seemed almost as 
much surprised at seeing me, as if one had appeared 
from the dead ; but they had so thoroughly imbibed 
the dread of the " long-haired men" — so industriously 
cherished by the accounts of their cruelt} r , which the 
imperialist mandarins circulated in their proclama- 
tions far and wide — that no assurances of safety I 
could give them would induce them to go any nearer 
to the city. So, to accomplish my objects, I was 
under the necessity of making three several visits on 
foot to my boat, two miles distant, in doing which it 
was unavoidable to pass the imperialist lines, not 
very far from their camp, as their tents lay spread 
out on the hills to my left, and within gun-shot of the 
river bank, along which my path lay. The second 
time, I took as many more copies of the books as I 
could well carry, and as I was approaching the forti- 
lied hills by the same path as at first, the imperial 
fleet came up and attacked the city. At the com- 
mencement of the attack I heard a cannon-ball 



354: FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

whistling tb rough the air, some distance above my 
head, and strike on the earth beyond. I picked up one 
that I found lying on the bank, and taking it, clambered 
the hill, entered the fortress, and gave it to the gun- 
ners, with which to return the compliment. With 
General Lo at my side, using my spy-glass to watch the 
movements of the enemy, I witnessed the engagement 
from the top of the ramparts. The enemy kept at 
such a safe distance that most of their balls were spent 
before reaching the shore. I could not ascertain that 
the insurgents suffered the least injury from the can- 
nonade of the imperialists : nor could I discover what 
amount of execution was done to the assailants. 

Observing that I was carefully watched in all my 
movements, I soon divined that I was suspected of 
being a spy, who had communicated with the enemy 
since leaving the city in the morning, and that this 
attack was the result. It is a marvel that they did not 
take my life. They had promised me an escort to Kan- 
king, but I knew this would not now be allowed, so to 
relieve them, I prepared to depart. I took my leave of 
Lo-ta-yun at night, and he, after having hospitably 
entertained me during my stay, gave me three live 
fowls and two hams, for my food on the way back to 
Shanghai. lie also had my carpet-bag tilled with 
the books that had been published by the order of 
Tai-ping-wong, and with the royal proclamations he 
had issued. Lo also wrote a friendly letter to his 
" foreign brethren" at Shanghai, of which the follow- 
ing is a translation : 

" Lo, the fifth arranger of the forces, attached to 
the palace of the celestial dynasty of.Tai-ping, who 
has received the command of Heaven to rule the 



SECOND TKIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 355 

empire, communicates the following information to 
all his English brethren. On the first day of the fifth 
moon (June 5th) a brother belonging to your honora- 
ble nation, named Charles Taylor, brought hither a 
number of books, which have been received in order. 
Seeing that the above named individual is a fellow- 
worshipper of the Supreme Ruler, he is, therefore, 
acknowledged as a brother : the books likewise which 
he has brought agree substantially with our own, so 
that it appears we follow one and the same road. 
Formerly, however, when a ship belonging to your 
honorable nation came hither (the Hermes)^ she was 
followed by a fleet of fiendish vessels belonging to the 
false Tartars : now also, when a boat from your hono- 
rable nation comes among us, the fiendish vessels of 
the Tartars again follow in its wake. Considering 
that your honorable nation is celebrated for its truth 
and fidelity, we, your younger brothers, do not harbor 
any suspicions. At present both Heaven and men 
favor our design, and this is just the time for setting 
up the Chinese and abolishing the Tartar rule. We 
suppose that you, gentlemen, are well acquainted 
with the signs of the times, so that we need not 
enlarge on that subject; while we, on our parts, do 
not prohibit commercial intercourse, we merely 
observe that since the two parties are now engaged 
in warfare, the going to and fro is accompanied with 
inconvenience ; and judging from the present aspect 
of affairs, we should deem it better to wait a few 
months, until we have thoroughly destroyed the 
Tartars, when, perhaps, the subjects of your honorable 
nation could go and come without being involved in 
the tricks of these false Tartars. Would it not, in 



356 FIVE YEARS IN CHLtfA. 

your estimation, also, be preferable ? We take advan- 
tage of the opportunity to send you this communica- 
tion for your intelligent inspection, and hope that every 
blessing may attend you. We also send a number of 
our own books which please to circulate amongst you." 
The provisions and my carpet bag were all given to 
a servant who followed me to the outer gate of his 
head-quarters, where was a horse saddled and bridled 
waiting for me, with a number of lieutenants and 
several hundred men, each one having a lantern, and 
variously armed with swords, matchlocks and long 
spears, whose polished blades gleamed in the light of 
the torches and lanterns. With this imposing proces- 
sion I was escorted through many narrow, winding 
streets, all lined on each side with fully armed sol- 
diers standing shoulder to shoulder. This left barely 
space for my cortege to pass in single file, and it 
brought me within arm's-length of these swarthy, 
stalwart warriors, who looked savagely at me, as if 
they longed to plunge their flashing steel into the 
foreign spy instead of allowing him thus to escape 
unharmed. I was in this manner conducted up one 
street and down another — it seemed to me for miles 
— between these double lines, evidently with the 
design of giving me a full impression of their num- 
bers and equipments, to counteract any idea I might 
before have entertained of their weakness. We 
emerged at length through the west 'gate of the city, 
and proceeded to the bank of a river, where was a 
boat waiting to convey me down to my own. Three 
brave fellows, armed cap-a-pie, got in with me. One 
of them was the chief of the men from Kwei-chow, a 
district in Kwang-si province, and he boasted of his 



SECOND TRIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 357 

native tribe, the Miau4sz, having never been sub- 
ject to the Tartar rule, and having never adopted 
their custom of shaving the head. He was a noble 
looking young man, tall, straight and muscular, with 
prominent cheek bones, and an eye like an eagle. 
He reminded me of some fine specimens of our North 
American Indians. His hair was bound up with a 
piece of yellow silk, the long ends of which hung 
loosely down on his back. He told me his hair 
would reach the ground, its great length being evi- 
dently to him a source of much pride. This is a 
peculiarity, indeed, in which they all take great satis- 
faction, and it has given them one of their distinctive 
names — chang-fali, "long-haired." But as the tide 
was against us, the wind high, and the night dark, it 
was determined to take me on board the general's 
large war junk that lay there among many others, 
close to the shore. Here I was assigned to his state- 
room, which was well furnished ; but as the night 
was excessively warm, and the mosquitoes trouble- 
some, I slept but little. The tide changed about two 
o'clock in the morning, and with my escort I got into 
the small boat once more. We were proceeding 
slowly down the river near the shore, and had not 
yet passed beyond the stockades, when we were 
hailed by a sentinel. My long-haired friend replied 
that he and two comrades were just going down the 
river a little way to accompany the "foreign brother" 
to his boat ; but so strict were the orders of this sen- 
try, and so faithful was he to them, that he said we 
must come to land and allow him to see for himself, 
or he should fire into us. My companions protested 
that he surely knew who they were, but all to no 



358 FTYE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

avail — to the shore we had to go, and undergo an 
examination by the trusty sentinel, who came up 
with his lantern as we landed, and when he had the 
evidence of his eyes to corroborate that of his ears, he 
was satisfied, and we passed on a few hundred yards, 
till we had got beyond all those difficult obstructions 
in the path before enumerated. Then I insisted on 
being put ashore, and walking to my boat; for I 
would not allow these brave, noble fellows to risk 
their lives on my account, as I knew there were 
Imperialist scouts out night and day. We parted, 
with many expressions of good feeling and urgent 
requests on their part, that I would soon visit them 
again. The carpet-bag, fowls and hams having been 
so adjusted on a stick as to balance across my shoul- 
ders, I started on, after hearing the splash of their 
oars far enough to satisfy me that my long-haired 
brethren were within hail of their own intrench- 
ments. My load was so heavy and troublesome that 
after having carried it half a mile, an opportunity 
presented itself not only to relieve me, but to bless 
another. It was now daylight, and I had come near 
to one of the few mud and straw cottages by the 
path-side. A poor old man had just come out, and I, 
throwing my load down on the path, beckoned to 
him to come. At first he hesitated, but as I told him 
not to fear, and that I had something to give him, at 
the same time pointing to the hams and fowls at my 
feet, he mustered sufficient courage to approach. 'I 
told him to take those provisions into his house and 
make the best use of them he could. The poor old 
man, who appeared as if he had never possessed so 
much at one time in his whole life, seemed to mis- 



SECOND TRIP TO THE INSURGENT CAMP. 359 

understand me, and offered to carry them for me to 
my boat. On being assured that they were his own, 
he poured out all his vocabulary of gratitude and 
blessing on my head. This little circumstance made 
me feel richer than could the possession of all the 
hams and chickens in China. Shouldering my car- 
pet-bag I trudged along not only with a lighter load, 
but with such a light, glad, happy heart, that I noted 
not the remaining mile and a half of distance, but 
found myself at my boat as if by a few steps, and in 
a few moments. My boatmen were no less rejoiced 
than surprised to see me come back with my head on 
my shoulders. I was unwilling to leave the insur- 
gents with the impression which they evidently 
entertained respecting myself, and therefore resolved 
to attempt removing it by still another visit. So 
on setting out the third time, I took the medicines 
and a small case of surgical instruments, which I had 
brought with me from Shanghai. My reappearance 
in the camp created more surprise than had my first. 
I explained to them my object and requested to be 
afforded an opportunity to benefit if possible the sick 
among them. At first they hesitated, but their con- 
fidence in me seemed gradually to return, and in a 
short time the demand for medical aid was greater 
than I had the means of supplying, but I afforded 
relief to the many applicants, as far as within my 
power. Passing along a street I observed a man at 
an anvil in one of the shops, forging a spear head, 
and saw that he was suffering from a disease in one 
eye, which a simple surgical operation would remedy. 
After much persuasion both from his companions who 
crowded around, and from myself, he sat down and 



360 FIVE TEARS IN CHINA. 

submitted to it. Thus did I natter myself with the 
hope of becoming partially, at least, reinstated in 
their good opinion. Leaving them finally, and 
returning to my boat once more, we weighed anchor 
and in a few minutes were on our way back to Shang- 
hai, which we reached safely after running the 
blockade again, and three days' sail down the Yang- 
tsz-Kiang. 

An entry in my journal, under date of July 9, 
1853,* just one month after my return from the visit 
to their camp at Chin-kiang-fu, says, a the insurgents 
seem to have made no further movements in this 
direction, though it is said a strong force sallied out 
from Nan-king, not many days ago, and captured, 
without difficulty, some large cities toward the West. 
It is also confidently asserted that the five or six pro- 
vinces through which the patriots passed in their vic- 
torious march northward — but which they did not 
attempt to retain in possession — have voluntarily 
declared in favor-of the new movement, and sent in 
their allegiance to Tai-ping-wong. The whole em- 
pire t is in a ferment of excitement. Disaffection to 
the existing government is spreading rapidly, and 
signs of it are manifest in the open resistance to the 
oppressive demands of the mandarins in every direc- 
tion. Only four days ago the enraged populace des- 
troyed the furniture and a part of the buildings 
belonging to the office of the mayor of this district, 
and burnt the houses of two tax collectors, in conse- 
quence of their attempts to force the payment of 
unjust exactions. The feeling is becoming univer- 
sally prevalent among the people of all classes, that 
the empire is destined soon to change hands." 



CHAPTER XXYIII. 

HISTORY OF TAI-PING-WONG, THE REVOLUTIONARY 
LEADER. 

Literary Examinations at Canton — Receives a Christian Tract — Has a 
Vision — Diligent Study — Renounces Idolatry — Returns to Canton 
— Receives Instruction — Disappears — When next Heard of — Perse- 
cuted — Self-defence — Numbers Multiply — The Miau-tsz — " Triad 
Society " — Singular Proclamations — Fanatical Errors — Form of 
Prayer — Present Condition. 

The name of this remarkable personage as a pri- 
vate individual was Hung-siu-tsiuen and as such 
only, was he known to a Protestant missionary in 
Canton, with whom he sojourned and studied some, 
at least, of the doctrines of the Bible for about two 
months. But as there was not at that time the least 
foreshadowing of what he was destined to become, 
his character was not minutely analyzed, nor was his 
history closely inquired into. He informed his in- 
structor that some years before (in 1835) he came to 
Canton as a candidate, to attend the triennial exami- 
nation of aspirants to literary honors. 

Successful competitors are eligible, by the laws of 
the empire, to its various grades of rank and office. 
They do not always, however, realize the reward due 
to their exertions ; for, as in many other more en- 
lightened countries, gold supplies the lack of brains, 
and bribes will often secure promotion to rich block- 

1G 



362 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

heads and profligates, while superior merit is left to 
toil on in poverty and obscurity. This form of in- 
justice is one of the many grievances set forth in the 
manifestoes of the revolutionists, and possibly Hung- 
siu-tsiuen himself may have personally experienced 
it. 

"While in attendance at the examination halls, a 
book was presented to him by a person who was dis- 
tributing copies of it on that occasion, and who 
proved, upon a subsequent comparison of time, place, 
circumstances, personal appearance and the title of 
the book — to be Leang-afa, the first convert to Pro- 
testant Christianity in China, and for thirty years a 
native assistant in connection with the London Mis- 
sionary society, and whom I saw and heard in Can- 
ton. His death has been recently announced in this 
country. 

Hung-siu-tsiuen infonmed the missionary that he 
took that book home with him to the province of 
Kwang-si, and studied it attentively with absorbing 
interest. "Not long after this, at a period correspond- 
ing with some time in 1837, he stated that during a 
severe illness he had a vision in which he was taken 
up to heaven, where he saw the Lord Jesus, and that 
he was thus confirmed in his belief of the doctrines 
contained in the book. During the next ten years he 
seems to have been diligently laboring to disseminate 
them among the pupils of a school which he taught 
for a livelihood, and among his countrymen generally, 
who would assemble at his house to hear him read 
and expound them. His efforts were attended with 
considerable success, for many believed, abandoned 
idolatry, destroyed their images, and became w r or- 



HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY LEADER. 363 

shippers of the true God. He was conscious at the 
same time, that his own knowledge of this new faith 
was imperfect, and thirsting for further instruction 
he repaired with a friend in 1847 to Canton, where he 
had heard there was a foreign teacher of this wonder- 
ful religion. Inquiring on their arrival, where the 
foreigner lived who proclaimed the doctrines of Jesus, 
they were directed to one, who from a long residence 
in that particular vicinity, was perhaps more gene- 
rally known to its inhabitants than many of the other 
missionaries stationed at that city. Hung-siu-tsiuen 
handed him a written paper which contained the 
above-mentioned items of his history and the details 
of his vision. He was received as an inquirer after 
truth, and he remained, absorbed in its pursuit, as 
before related for about two months ; but his friend 
left in a few days. The missionary describes him as 
the most earnest and deeply-interested student of 
Christianity he had ever found in China ; but at the 
same time strongly tinctured with fanaticism. As 
soon as he learned that baptism was the rite of admis- 
sion into the Church of Christ, he requested that it 
might be administered to him ; but not being re- 
garded as yet prepared for that sacrament, he was 
advised to continue his investigations for a while 
longer, with the hope that with increased light, his 
views would become less visionary, and with the pro- 
mise, that after a suitable time, upon a satisfactory 
examination, his desire should be gratified. Soon 
after, however, quite unexpectedly, and from some 
unknown cause, perhaps disappointment at being re- 
fused baptism, he disappeared, and though diligent 
inquiry was made, nothing could then be heard of him. 



364: FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. * 

Five years after, in the autumn of 1852, a person 
who was probably his friend above alluded to, visited 
a missionary at Hong-Kong, and gave him written 
accounts of the movement that had then been for 
several years in progress, and known to foreigners as 
the Kwang-si rebellion. This was the first intimation 
we had of the religious character of the conflict, and 
that the chief was the man who had been taught by the 
missionary. One of these papers stated that " Hung- 
siu-tsiuen studied books from his early youth, was 
intelligent beyond comparison, and having read all 
kinds of books, he went to the examinations at fifteen 
or sixteen years of age." Then follows in substance 
the foregoing narrative. It further proceeds — "it 
was not the original design to raise a rebellion, but 
from the encroachments and injuries inflicted by the 
officers and soldiers to which we could not submit, 
there was no alternative left us." In the official re- 
ports of these very officers they were accused of 
nothing but denouncing idolatry, breaking the idols 
in the temples, exhorting the people to believe in 
Jesus and worship the true God. They were for these 
things bitterly persecuted, prominent men among 
them were imprisoned, sometimes beaten, and finally 
two of them were put to death. This seems to have 
determined them to assume a defensive attitude. 
Confidence in the justice of their cause and an avowed 
trust in God, inspired them with a degree of ardor 
and courage which their adversaries could not suc- 
cessfully resist. The latter were consequently re- 
pulsed in every assault upon the anti-idolaters. 

These occurrences were not far from the mountain- 
ous districts inhabited by the hardy and warlike 



HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY LEADER. 365 

tribes called the Miau-tsz, who alone of the native 
Chinese race were never subdued bj the Tartars, but 
have always maintained their independence, and have 
been thorns in the sides of these invaders, by making 
frequent incursions upon them and their subjects in 
the conquered territory. Ever watchful for opportu- 
nities to assail the usurpers, it is more than probable 
that on learning of this new struggle, they made over- 
tures to their persecuted fellow countrymen, to make 
common cause with themselves against the govern- 
ment. This, the new religionists could not consist- 
ently do, unless the Miau-tsz would also adopt the 
faith for which they were contending and suffering. 
That they did it — from whatever motive in the first 
place — is certain, for some of the bravest and most 
zealous of its champions whom I subsequently became 
acquainted with in the revolutionary army, were of 
this noble tribe. 

Proposals of a similar character were doubtless 
made by the members of a secret political association 
called the Triad Society, which has existed ever since 
the Tartar conquest, having for its avowed object, to 
plot the overthrow of the Tartar dynasty. Upon like 
conditions, probably, a coalition with them also was 
consented to, and this movement, hitherto only a 
crusade against idolatry, now received a new ele- 
ment, and became henceforth a politico-religious 
warfare against the paganism of the empire on the 
one hand, and the Tartar usurpation on the other. 

There must needs then be a regular military organ- 
ization, and the manner in which this was accom- 
plished shows an amazing amount of wisdom and 
consummate skill on the part of its projectors. 



366 FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

Hung-siu-tsiuen allowed himself to be placed at its 
head with the title as sovereign of Tai-ping-wong, 
" Great pacificating King." I say allowed, for it does 
not appear from anything we can learn of his pre- 
vious history that he iad the slightest tinge of ambi- 
tion for such a position, much less, we believe, did it 
at first enter his wildest dreams. For, dreamer though 
he was, his visions were rather of his countrymen freed 
from the dominion of their degrading superstitions, 
than from the tyranny of an oppressive government. 
We know of nothing in his earlier course which fur- 
nished the least warrant for the idea, that he sought 
for himself either temporal power or political eleva- 
tion. The force of singular and unforeseen circum- 
stances placed him at the head of a civil revolution, 
and finding himself thus put forward, he, or his im- 
mediate followers — perhaps both — deemed it neces- 
sary for the maintenance of that superior dignity and 
sacredness that always attach in the Chinese mind to 
the person of their sovereign, that he should assume 
to have been favored — and he probably fancied he 
was — with other heavenly visions, and that in these 
he was divinely commissioned to exterminate the 
whole Tartar race, as well as to uproot idolatry 
throughout the empire. 

He published in his proclamation, that " accord- 
ing to the Sacred Record, in the beginning the True 
God in six days created the heavens, earth, sea, men 
and things — that when men became wicked, God 
manifested his anger by sending the flood and de- 
stroying them. That again, God came down and de- 
livered his people Israel out of Egypt, showing great 
signs and wonders. That again, a third time, He dis- 



HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY LEADER. 367 

played His awful majesty and sent bis Son, the 
Saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus, down to the 
earth, who became incarnate in the land of Judea, 
and suffered for the redemption of mankind." They 
then assert, that in a certain year which corresponds 
to our 1837, " God sent a celestial messenger to take 
the ' celestial king,' *. e., Tai-ping-wong, up into 
heaven, and that afterward He sent the celestial king 
to become the chief of the empire, and save the 
people." And further, that at a time agreeing with 
April, 1848, " God came down into the world, and 
six months after, Jesus came down and displayed his 
power in killing great numbers of the Tartars in 
several battles." 

He probably derived the notion of God descending 
to the earth, and interposing in human affairs, from 
Gen. ii., 5, where it says : " The Lord came down to 
see the city and the tower which the children of 
men builded." Again, Gen. xviii., 21: "And the 
Lord said, I will go down now, and see whether they 
have done," etc. And Exodus iii., 8 : " I am come 
down to deliver them out of the hands of the 
Egyptians." 

He claims, or his ministers of state claim for him, 
that he is the younger brother of Jesus Christ, and in 
the same proclamation they speak of the Saviour as 
" our celestial elder brother Jesus." It is quite pos- 
sible they have been led into this error, from the 
want of sufficient instruction, and by a too literal 
and exclusive construction of the passage in which 
an Apostle says of our Lord Jesus Christ that he is 
" our elder brother." It is equally possible, that in 
order to secure a high degree of reverence for him in 



3G8 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

the eyes of his followers, it has been so distorted as 
to admit of his being called " the second son of the 
Heavenly Father." I can scarcely believe he is 
aware that it is a blasphemous assumption, from the 
anxiety he has manifested to avoid that sin. For ex- 
ample, he will not allow the term Hwang-ti, " Glo- 
rious Ruler," by which the emperors of China have 
always been called — to be applied to himself, on the 
ground that it properly belongs only to God, and 
that it is blasphemy for a mortal to be thus ad- 
dressed. 

The term used in some of the Chinese versions of 
the New Testament, for the Holy Spirit, has been, in 
like manner, recently arrogated to himself by the 
prime minister of State, " Yang, the eastern king," 
without, I am persuaded, any correct conception of 
the idea we design to convey by it. For this, as 
well as many other terms we are compelled to use 
for want of better in the language, we often find 
entirely misapprehended, even after our best attempts 
to explain it. Their benighted minds are so tho- 
roughly imbued with materialist notions of religion 
that it is exceedingly difficult to bring them to com- 
prehend the spiritual character of our holy Christian- 
ity. Extravagant exaggeration is also a characteris- 
tic of oriental nations ; the Chinese are no exception 
to the rule, and in passing judgment upon expressions 
found in the books and proclamations of the insur- 
gents, this strongly marked feature must be allowed 
its full influence. Especially in phrases laudatory on 
the one hand, or derogatory on the other, they say 
far more than they mean. 

Still, there can be no question, that elated by sue- 






HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION ART LEADER, 3G9 

cess and fired by enthusiasm for what they believe to 
be right, they have run into a wild fanaticism, and 
set up pretensions which all enlightened people must 
condemn. At the same time we may well be rather 
surprised that a people just emerging from the thick 
darkness in which forty centuries of idolatry have 
enveloped them, should in five short years have 
received so much of Christian truth, than that it 
should be mingled with so much of error. While we 
deplore his mistakes and discountenance his extrava- 
gances, shall we therefore cut him off entirely from 
our sympathy ? If he discarded the Bible as Mahomet 
did, and substituted in its place, a production of his 
own fevered brain ; or if, like the Romanists, he 
carefully kept that Bible from the people, there might 
be some reason for unqualified denunciation. But 
what may we not hope for, when he has the Holy 
Scriptures, as translated by Protestant missionaries, 
reprinted without note or comment, and widely cir- 
culated among his followers — appealing to it as the 
highest authority in doctrine, and referring them to 
it as the source whence he has derived his own 
knowledge ? Imperfectly understood and intermin- 
gled with fanatical conceits, as many of its doctrines 
are, by the revolutionists, yet there they stand, and 
the Book that contains them is scattered broadcast 
wherever their arms prevail. For a long time they 
had but detached portions of it, and this fact alone is 
sufficient to account for some of the errors existing 
among them ; but of late they have, it is believed, 
the whole. The officers of a foreign war steamer that 
visited them at Nanking after I left China, found that 
about six htindred men were employed upon a large 

16* 



370 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

edition of the Gospel of Matthew, under the imme- 
diate supervision of Tai-ping-wong. 

That he is at present, if still liying, a visionary, an 
enthusiast, a fanatic, I do not deny, but I cannot 
believe he is a willful impostor in his religious profes- 
sions, while he bases his religion on the Bible, and 
then takes so much pains to have that Book univer- 
sally read by his countrymen, that they may see for 
themselves on what he rests his faith and practice, 
and can judge for themselves whether he is right or 
wrong. 

Here is a translation of one of his forms of prayer, 
taken from one of his publications, entitled "The 
book of Eeligious Precepts of the Tai-ping-wong 
Dynasty." 

" I, thine unworthy son (or daughter), kneeling 
down upon the ground, with a true heart repent of 
my sins, and pray the great Supreme Ruler our 
heavenly Father, of thine infinite goodness and 
mercy, to forgive my former ignorance and frequent 
transgressions of the Divine commands ; earnestly 
beseeching thee of thy great favor, to pardon all my 
former sins, and enable me to repent and lead a new 
life, so that my soul may ascend to heaven. May I 
from henceforth sincerely repent and forsake my evil 
ways, not worshipping false gods, nor practising per- 
verse things, but obeying thy Divine commands. I 
also earnestly pray Thee the great God our heavenly 
Father, constantly to bestow on me thy Holy Spirit, 
and change my wicked heart. Never again allow 
me to be deceived by malignant demons ; but, per- 
petually regarding me with favor, forever deliver me 
from the Evil One ; and every day bestowing on me 



HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY LEADER. 371 

food and clothing, exempt me from calamity and 
woe, granting me tranquillity in the present world, 
and the enjoyment of endless happiness in heaven ; 
through the merits of our Saviour and Heavenly 
Brother, the Lord Jesus, who redeemed us from sin. 
1 also pray the great Supreme Ruler our Father who 
is in heaven, that his will may be done on earth as it 
is in heaven. That thou wouldst look down and 
grant this request, is my heart's sincere desire." 

In this extract we have a clear recognition of the 
guilt of sin, the duty of repentance, the atonement of 
Jesus Christ, the need of a new heart, and the work 
of the Holy Spirit in renewing and purifying the soul 
for heaven. 

There is, however, reason to believe that Tai-ping- 
wong has died ; otherwise it is difficult to account for 
the fact, that this revolution has, for the present at 
least, not only ceased to advance, but has retrograded, 
for no other adequate cause, so far as known. Even 
if it should be entirely suppressed, yet much that it 
has circulated is the truth of God, and though it be 
now for a time mournfully perverted or overlaid with 
grievous mistakes, I think the time must come when 
it shall spring forth in all its innate power and 
beauty, shake off the errors that have cumbered it, 
and, as if in revenge for its tortured and retarded 
progress, shall march on with proportionately accele- 
rated step, hastening to the conquest of the empire, 
and leading its teeming millions in their right minds 
to the feet of Jesus. 



CIIAPTEE XXIX. 

A TYFOON THE HILLS CAPTURE OF SHANGHAI 

INCIDENTS. 

A Tyfoon — Destruction of Property and Life — One of the Sufferers 
— A Trip to " the Hills 7 ' — Companions — Employment — " Seven 
Pearls " — " Four Streams " — Hills — Temples— Pagodas — Groves — 
Flowers and Shrubbery — A Mausoleum — A Leaning Tower — Fall 
of Shanghai — Bands of Outlaws — Murder of the Mayor — Distress 
and Alarm — Visit to the Bandit Chief — He accepts and makes pub- 
lic a Proclamation of Tai-ping-wong against Idolatry — Adventure 
with Robbers — A Brave Army. 

On the night of Sunday, August the 28th, we had 
one of those terrific tornadoes, common on this coast, 
in which so many vessels and lives are lost every year. 
It is here called a tyfoon, or more correctly, tai-foong 
— " great wind." It began in the east, and veered 
around northwardly to the west, where it terminated. 
It continued for about ten hours, blowing a perfect 
hurricane all this time. The windows, blinds, roofs 
and eave-troughs destroyed or injured in the foreign 
portion of the town, are not a few. A master of a 
ship, who, with his wife, was living here on shore, 
said to her during the gale, " Oh that we were only at 
sea now in this wind, with everything ' snug' on the 
ship, how safe we should be. But here we are on 
shore, expecting every minute the house to blow 
down on our heads ! I wish I had a rope made fast 



A TYFOON. 873 

to the top of the chimney, I'd pull it over, and then 
we could be sure which way it would fall, and could 
get out of the way." 

The destruction on the river w r as frightful to relate, 
much more so to behold. It is estimated that a hun- 
dred small boats were swamped and sunk, and some 
two or three hundred lives lost, most of the boats 
being occupied by families. A day or two after, I 
went along the bank of the river to see if there was 
any destitute family to whom I could give a boat 
that we have had for some years. I soon came upon 
a family consisting of a man, his wife, and two little 
children, w T ho had been wrecked and lost their boat. 
The poor man, bursting into tears, told me one of 
their children was drow r ned. He had saved nothing 
but an oar, one or two planks, and some other arti- 
cles of little value. They were living under a shelter 
formed by a few mats, placed against a high bamboo 
fence. I gave him some " cash " for his wife and 
children, and requested him to follow me, without 
telling him for w r hat purpose. Leading the way for 
a mile and a half, I brought him to our boat, and 
pointing to it, asked him if he would like to have it. 
His face fairly shone as he replied in the affirmative. 
I told him it was his. The poor fellow dropped upon 
his knees, his eyes filled with tears, and he bowed 
his head to the ground. Immediately I lifted him 
up, and told him he must kneel to the true God and 
offer his thanks, but not to me. Still so full was his 
heart with joy and gratitude, that he kneeled to thank 
me several times after, which I prevented each time, 
as soon as possible. The boat is probably much lar- 
ger and better than the one he lost, and I hope that 



374 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

before this time, his little family are comfortably set- 
tled in it. But that will not heal the wound of their 
hearts, bleeding for their drowned little boy. The 
kindly hand of time may, however, heal even that ; 
but the religion of Jesus Christ would do it much 
more sweetly and surely. Oh that they had its blessed 
consolations. 

On Tuesday, the fifth of September, my colleague, 
Rev. Mr. Cunnyngham, and his wife, together with 
Mrs. E. M. Yates, the wife of one of our nearest 
and best neighbors, Eev. M. T. Yates, of the Southern 
Baptist Board, and their little daughter Annie, with 
myself, set out in a native boat on the Yang-king- 
pang, for a trip to "The Hills," of which there are a 
half dozen, forming a beautiful cluster as they rise 
from the perfectly level plain. They are the only 
elevations of the kind, for many miles around, and 
appear the more attractive from contrast with the low, 
flat surrounding country. Being but about thirty 
miles west from Shanghai, they are a favorite resort 
for the resident foreigners, who make frequent excur- 
sions to them in boats, for recreation. They consti- 
tuted too, at "that time, by special arrangement w T ith the 
local authorities, the furthest point to which we " out- 
siders " were permitted to penetrate into the "inner 
kingdom," and remain unmolested for a few weeks. 
Of our party, Mr. and Mrs. Cunnyngham, by their 
many kind and excellent traits of character, had for 
nearly a year, brightened my home, that had been 
made so desolate by the departure of my wife and 
children for the United States, just nineteen months 
before. Mrs. Yates is an estimable lady, whose quiet 
and unostentatious labors amons: the women and chil- 



THE HILLS. 375 

dren of her neighborhood, together with her many 
amiable and intellectual qualities, render her a model 
female missionary — needed a respite from her cares, 
in order to recruit her strength. Little Annie, too, 
who was far from being well, soon gained strength 
and spirit, trotting by my side as I led her over the 
" Hills " in my daily excursions, when the rain did 
not prevent, for preaching, distributing tracts, and 
dispensing remedies for the diseases of the outer man, 
among the villages and hamlets, that so thickly dot 
this wide-spread, fertile plain. It soon became noised 
abroad that I had medicines, and the people came to 
our residence — a native house bought and fitted up 
in a comfortable manner by Edward Cunningham, 
Esq., the American vice-consul at Shanghai, who 
kindly gave us permission to occupy it. The num- 
ber of patients that daily flocked to the place, was as 
great as could be conveniently attended to, and dur- 
ing the ten days of our sojourn, many were entirely 
cured of their maladies. 

On our way to the hills, we passed the small village 
of Chih-pau — " Seven Pearls " — on the banks of 
the canal, twelve miles from Shanghai, and then 
eight miles further, the town of Sz-king — " Four 
Streams." Here are two of those finely-arched, high 
bridges, of nicely hewn granite, that we have occa- 
sion to notice so often in our excursions into the in- 
terior of this wonderful country. 

On the sides, and crowning the summits of most of 
these hills, are temples and pagodas — some in ruins, 
and others preserved in a condition of great costli- 
ness and even beauty, especially in the shrubbery 
and flowers that are cultivated with great care within 



376 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

their high brick-wall inclosures. On the one most 
visited, Sung-shan, there is a series of temples, ex- 
tending from the landing-place, which is laid with 
large, smoothly-hewn and well-fitted blocks of stone, 
on the side of the canal, nearly to the top of the hill, 
and you ascend from one to another, through five in 
succession, by stone stairways of elaborate and expen- 
sive construction. These temples are highly ornate, 
and filled with heavily-gilded and gaudily-painted 
idols of manifold names, sizes, and prerogatives. They 
are much frequented by the inhabitants of the sur- 
rounding region, and some come from afar to worship 
at these celebrated shrines. 

Near the summit of another, called Sau-hiang shan 
— " Burn-incense-hill " — is a leaning pagoda, seven 
stories high, in quite a dilapidated condition, and 
said to be five hundred years old. Its inclination is 
fully equal to that of the renowned " leaning tower 
at Pisa," to which it instantly carries the mind of 
every one visiting it, who has either seen that, or a 
representation of it, commonly found in the school 
geographies. This one must have been thrown from 
its vertical position by some terrestrial: convulsion, 
similar to the shocks of earthquakes so comparatively 
frequent in this part of the world. 

Still another of these beautful hills is occupied as 
the mausoleum of a distinguished mandarin of the 
olden time, and the spacious grounds and groves of 
large trees on its side contain many figures of dogs, 
cats, goats, horses saddled and bridled, and colossal 
priests sculptured in stone. Most of these are 
arranged in pairs, one facing the other on each side 
of the long, ascending stairway of wrought stone, which 



CAPTURE OF SHANGHAI. 377 

is about fourteen feet wide, being provided with a stone 
balustrade on each side, and has successive "land- 
ings " at convenient distances along up the hill till 
you come to the grave. 

On our return, Sept. 17, we found a condition of 
affairs that is described in the following record : 

Shanghai has fallen, not into the hands of the 
Kwang-si revolutionists, but has been very uncere- 
moniously taken possession of by a lawless, irrespon- 
sible band of vagabonds, composed of Rye clans — 
two of Canton men, two of Fohkien men, and one of 
Ningpo men. Of these five, each has its respective 
leader, and they all rally under a chief named JSien, 
who is a Canton man, formerly a sugar merchant 
here, and well known as such to the foreign mer- 
chants. He is an inveterate opium-smoker, and from 
an interview with him, such as I had, one would not sup- 
pose he had the least qualification for the position he 
occupies. Being the head or president of one of the 
Canton clubs or guilds, at the time of the outbreak, 
in which he was a prominent conspirator, he came 
rather by chance to hold his present office. A secret 
combination, known as the " Small Sword Society," 
has been known to exist for some months past, com- 
posed of Canton and Fohkien men, disaffected to- 
ward the government in general, and the rulers of 
this city in particular. They have long threatened 
the peace of the city, but the authorities could not or 
dared not apprehend them, though the leaders were 
known, and rewards were offered for their capture. 

"Wednesday morning,' Sept. 7,- was the day ap- 
pointed for the customary semi-annual offering of a 
slain ox, pigs, and goats to the sage Confucius, in the 



378 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

temple erected to him within the city. This always 
takes place about daybreak, and all the city officers 
are expected to be present. Three American mis- 
sionaries were there to witness the ceremonies. After 
an unusual delay, the mandarins being expected every 
moment, the report came that there was an insur- 
rection in the city. All rushed from the temple, and 
the doors were closed. The band of miscreants were 
met in the streets coming from the mayor's office, 
where, as he attempted to remonstrate with them, 
they had killed that officer, inflicting twenty-seven 
wounds. His title of office is Chi-hien. An officer 
still higher in rank, called the Tau-tai, also resides 
here for convenience of transacting business with 
foreigners. His official residence is properly at the 
city of Sung-Kiang, about thirty miles west of Shang- 
hai. He is a native of Canton, and was formerly an 
extensive tea merchant in that city. By the wealth 
acquired in trade he was enabled to purchase the 
rank of mandarin, and was finally appointed to the 
office he held till that morning, when the rioters 
compelled him to yield. It is believed the soldiers 
composing his guard were leagued with the con- 
spirators, as they only made a mock resistance, firing 
their guns into the air. His life was spared and he 
was put under guard, but contrived in the afternoon 
of the same day to escape to the private residence of 
a friend, and was finally assisted by two foreigners to 
leave the city in the disguise of a poor laborer, when 
he was afforded a refuge and protection by the 
American consul. 

The residences of the two above named officers 
were immediately robbed of everything movable, and 



CATTUEE OF SHANGHAI. 379 

some things, before stationary, were made movable 
for the purpose of being moved. For instance, win- 
dow and door casings and posts were torn from the 
walls and carried off for firewood. 

The usurpers, with surprising promptness and 
decision, proclaimed a sort of martial law, ordering 
the citizens not to remove, but to open their shops 
and go on with business as before ; assuring them at 
the same time of protection to their lives and pro- 
perty, and proclaiming instant death to any who 
should be found plundering. Several were, in con- 
sequence, immediately beheaded, and now we hear 
of no more robberies. 

Notwithstanding the efforts of the captors to the 
contrary, nearly one-half of the inhabitants have fled 
from the city, and about that proportion of the shops 
continue closed. Native trade in the city is mostly 
at an end, and many who were dependent upon it 
for their daily support, must suffer indescribably. 
Foreigners are entirely unmolested, and are in fact 
treated with more deference than ever before. 
Frightened natives often come to us for protection, 
and as we walk through the streets, we are beset by 
anxious faces asking our opinions of the present state 
of affairs. 

These ruffians claim to be acting with the know- 
ledge and direction of Tai-ping-wong at Nanking, but 
the people know better. I induced the chief here to 
stick up a proclamation of that prince, denouncing 
idolatry and enjoining the worship of the " True 
God." It is printed on yellow paper, and is five 
feet long by four wide. It was given me by the 
commandant of the patriot garrison at Chin-Kiang, 



380 FIVE YEAUS IN CHINA. 

and now hangs on a large board at the office gate of 
this upstart chief, here at Shanghai. We could wish 
he was a better man, but if we can get the doctrine 
of but one true God before the people, as set forth in 
this proclamation, our object is in part attained. 

This emeute is so premature, and is in such miser- 
ably imcompetent and unprincipled hands, that it is 
universally deprecated. Neither the leaders nor 
their followers — amounting to several thousands — 
seem to have any knowledge of the principles and 
doctrines of Tai-ping-wong, for they both smoke 
opium and worship idols without restraint. The 
sooner, therefore, we can disseminate the views and 
injunctions of the patriot chief among them the 
better ; and having now acknowledged his authority, 
by posting up this proclamation, and raising his flag 
upon the walls of the city, they will be compelled to 
comply with and execute his orders when they shall 
have been received. 

Since the disturbance in the city, our congrega- 
gations have been larger and more attentive than 
before. The hand of the Lord is certainly in these 
commotions, and we cannot but believe He will bring 
incalculable good out of these present evils. 

One morning, while we were at breakfast, our ser- 
vants rushed into the room saying that six Fohkien 
men, from the city, were plundering a boat that was 
lying at the bank, on the opposite side of the creek 
from our house. I went out and called to them to 
desist. They paid no regard to me till I began to 
pelt them with brickbats, when the whole six, armed 
as they were, scampered off, and ran across the 
bridge at the corner of our lot. To reach the city, 



INCIDENTS. 3S1 

they must needs pass directly by our gate. So I 
hastened through my study, where I seized an un- 
loaded pistol, and rushing out reached the gate at the 
same moment with the robbers. I pointed the pistol 
at them, and ordered them to stop. Four of them 
escaped, but the two hindmost obeyed. One of them 
raised his sword to strike me, but I held the pistol to 
his breast and demanded his weapon, and did the 
same to the other. They finally, after much parley- 
ing, gave them up with great reluctance. I also took 
from them their long, red silk sashes, and a small 
yellow flag which the villains carried, pretending 
that they were robbing under authority. I then gave 
them some wholesome admonitions and let them go. 
Anticipating an attack from a larger force in conse- 
quence of this indignity, I took the swords, sashes 
and flag, to the United States acting consul (Mr. 
Cunningham), narrated the occurrence, and asked for 
some protection for our premises. He sent us a 
guard of marines from the sloop-of-war Saratoga, 
which was then in the harbor ; but the fellows 
showed themselves no more for two days. The offi- 
cer in command of the marines, had received orders 
to allow no armed persons to cross the bridge. No 
attempt having been made, the guard on the third 
day was reduced to two men. On that afternoon the 
rebel forces issued from the north gate of the city, in 
number apparently not less than two thousand, and 
were advancing toward our dwelling. I intimated 
to them, by signs, that they must come no nearer ; 
and, at the same time, called out my two marines, 
and stationed them side by side, with fixed bayonets, 
on the narrow path. The motley multitude, with 



382 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

flags and martial music, came on, also in double file, 
to within about two hundred yards, and came to a 
halt, while the leaders advanced a few rods in front 
and said they only wished to cross the bridge on 
their way to a village two miles distant. I informed 
them that our orders were to allow no armed body to 
cross that bridge, and we intended to carry them out. 
So, after much palaver, they turned off and marched 
around another way, by a route a mile or two further, 
and, after plundering and burning the unfortunate 
village, returned after dark with torches and lanterns 
to the city. 



CH4PTEE XXX. 

THE VOYAGE HOMEWARD. 

Cause of leaving China — Departure in the " Torrent " — Capt. Copp 
— A Fine Run — A Terrible Tyfoon — Sea-sickness — Loss of my 
Chinese dress — Damages to the Ship — A Fellow-Passenger — Time 
for Reading — Sight of Islands — The Anambas — 'Splendid Sun- 
sets—Crossing the Equator — The "Doldrums" — Winged Visitors 
— Reaching Java — Duties of Ship-Surgeon — Our Sable Cook — 
— Anjer — Strait of Sunda — Boats with Supplies — Turtles — " Mouse 
Deer " — Tedious Days — Storms — Calms — The Albatross — Porpoises 
— Whales — Sharks — Coast of Africa — Cape of Good Hope — Preach- 
ing on Ship-board — Christmas-day — Sabbaths at Sea — Two Sum- 
mers in One Year — New Appearance of the Heavens — The " Ma- 
gellan Clouds "—The " Southern Cross." 

Having learned that the health of my wife was but 
little, if at all improved, and that in its present state 
a return to China would be extremely hazardous, the 
unanimous opinion of my fellow-laborers, as well as 
my own judgment, decided that it was my duty to 
rejoin my family. The most favorable opportunity, 
both with reference to expense and comfort, as well 
as dispatch, that offered at the time, was by the 
American ship Torrent, Capt. Copp, bound for New 
York, via London. So, having with a sad heart bid 
adieu to my many friends, both native and foreign, 
on Monday, the third day of October, we left the 
mouth of the river Hwang-pu, at "Woosung, where 
we had first dropped anchor, five years and five days 



3S4: FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

before. In a day or two I became quite sea-sick, and 
the kind captain " rigged" me up a nice, comfortable 
cot in the large airy cabin, for my state-room was 
rather small and ill- ventilated. During the first 
week we made a splendid run of over two hundred 
miles a day ; but, on the morning of the first Sunday 
out, the wind having increased to a tyfoon, carried 
away our main-topsail yard, split the foresail, and 
tore the jib to ribbons. Everything on the ship not 
very strongly secured, began to " fetch away," i. e., 
get loose and tumble about. On deck, our two six- 
pounders, the hen-coops and hog-pens, and below, 
some jars of oil and lard, broke loose from their fast- 
enings in the gangway, near the cabin door, and de- 
luged the cabin generally, and my state-room in 
particular, with the lubricating compound. Sick as 
I was, it made me laugh in spite of myself, to see 
our steward — a good-natured, intelligent, and enter- 
prising Bohemian — slide on all fours, and thump 
from side to side of the cabin, with the rolling of the 
ship, in his attempts to walk on the unctuous floor. 
My Chinese costume, which I had worn on my trip 
to Nanking, and which was packed in a curious 
native travelling-basket, was lost overboard by a 
sailor who was conveying it across the deck, from a 
part of the ship where it was getting wet, to put it 
in a dry place. The vessel gave a heavy lurch at the 
moment, and he was obliged to let go the basket and 
seize hold of the rigging, to save himself from falling 
overboard. The storm ceased at last, though while it 
continued the captain said " it blew great guns," and 
that during a sea-faring life of twenty-three years, he 
had never before experienced its equal. We had to 



THE VOYAGE HOMEWARD. 385 

" lay to " one day to repair damages, and then pro- 
ceeded on our voyage as rapidly as the supervening 
calms, the light winds, headwinds, and opposing 
currents would allow. Pleasant weather came after 
awhile, and with it recovery from sea-sickness. Then, 
besides those passed in conversation with the excel- 
lent captain, and my only fellow-passenger, Mr. 
Albert Larned, whom I found a very agreeable and 
well-informed gentleman, I spent many hours of each 
day in delightful and profitable companionship with 
the thoughts, words and deeds of the great and 
good of other times, and the present. The fascinat- 
ing pages of Macaulay, and the equally interesting 
productions of Chalmers, were among those that 
charmed me most. These days of sequestered soli- 
tude at sea were golden links in the chain of my 
existence, and I endeavored to make each one bring 
its full measure of improvement to my mind and 
heart ; for such an opportunity for miscellaneous read- 
ing and study had not been mine for years. 

Oct. 26. — This morning we saw the first land since 
we left the mouth of the Yang-tsz-kiang. It is a 
cluster of small islands in about latitude 3° north of 
the equator, called the Anambas. They were quite 
plainly visible about twenty miles to the westward, 
and sufficiently distinct to render them agreeable 
objects for varying the monotony of the &?#-scape, if 
nothing more. How often one longs to see the dis- 
tant rim of this vast azure dome rest on the green 
earth once more, instead of always on the blue and 
boundless sea. Now and then a glorious evening 
scene, clouds of crimson and gold hung their gorge- 
ous drapery around the sun as he sunk to rest ; and 

17 



nVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

after tie had disappeared they changed to a sable 
hue, as if mourning at his departure. But then the 
sweet star of evening soon shone out, it seemed with 
unwonted brightness, as if striving her utmost to 
compensate for the absence of the sun himself. No 
envy nor jealousy with her. Although totally ob- 
scured in his superior brilliancy by day, she still 
patiently bides her time till night, knowing that then 
her modest worth will be fully appreciated ; and so 
contented, she keeps on cheerily her merry shining. 
We are now in what sailors call the " doldrums " — a 
term they have applied to the light, variable, baffling 
airs and calms in the region of the equator. 

I was below in my room during the afternoon in 
which we crossed the equator, and when the steward 
came down and informed me of the fact, I asked him 
if he saw it. "No, sir," said he, " but I felt the ship 
jolt as she went over it I" 

Just after the tyfoon, about twenty little spar- 
rows and swallows, having been blown far off from 
shore during the gale, took refuge on our ship. They 
soon became quite tame, and were great pets with 
all on board ; inasmuch as they added utility to their 
beauty, for they would fly, hop, and run, about the 
decks, into the galley, i. e., the ship's kitchen, and 
even into the forecastle, most industriously catching 
cockroaches, with which troublesome insects vessels 
are generally infested, and the "Torrent" was far 
from being an exception. But alas ! our pretty little 
exiles were not destined long to enjoy their sports, 
nor we their company; for four villainous hawks 
had also come and perched themselves high up in the 
rigging, from which they would now and then pounce 



THE VOYAGE HOMEWARD. 387 

down and seize our poor little birds. My fellow-pas- 
senger, Mr. Larned, with a musket, declared war to 
the muzzle, against the invaders, and finally killed 
all the hawks, but not until the last one had our only 
remaining sparrow in his murderous talons. 

We were thirty-six long and wearisome days in 
reaching the island of Java ; and yet, after all, Time 
flew swiftly on, while there was an effort each day to 
pluck a feather from his wing, with which to trace 
some lines of permanent and real good on the tablet 
of my own individual history. Here came another 
of those beautiful evenings. The sun had already 
set, but in departing had left his golden footprints on 
the sky, and was lavishing his brightest smiles on the 
clouds that hung lingering around his receding path- 
way. 

The monotony of our daily routine was frequently 
varied by medical attention to the crew. Pulling 
teeth, lancing boils, applying and dressing blisters, 
administering pills, powders, mixtures, and solutions, 
formed a part of my duties on shipboard. One of 
my patients was a sailor named Lepper, an Irishman, 
from Quebec. We read of lepers white as snow. 
He was not one of that sort. It would be difficult to 
determine what color he would be should he ever 
become clean, but he was anything else than white 
then. 

Our cook also, was a curiosity of fossilized filth. 
He was about the dirtiest, greasiest, and most slovenly 
old negro you ever saw. I espied him one day 
standing at the u windward " door of the " galley," 
carding his ebony fleece with a right good will, and 
accompanying each pull of the card with a display 



388 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. . 

of his entire stock of ivory. It was therefore no 
matter of surprise to find the mess, called a stew 
(that was on the table for dinner that day), embel- 
lished with curls. 

As the native boats brought off to us a sufficient 
supply of fresh provisions and fruits, so soon as we 
came in sight of Anjer, we passed on through the 
Straits of Sunda without anchoring. Among our 
purchases were two enormous turtles, each nearly as 
large as a barrel, and for both, the Malay bringing 
them in his canoe, demanded only a dollar and a 
half. We bought of another a most beautiful and 
remarkable little animal called a "mouse deer." 
It was a perfectly formed deer, had branching horns, 
smooth, glossy hair, slender legs, and was of the 
same color with the deer of our forests ; but of the 
most wonderfully diminutive size, being only about 
six inches in height and ten in length. It was very 
active, quite tame, and seemed to have attained its 
full growth, but it died at sea in a few weeks. 

The magnificent islands of Java and Sumatra had 
lifted their gorgeous mouutains on either hand, luxu- 
riant with vegetation of every varied hue, as they lay 
basking in the mellow glories of eternal summer, 
and had, with the thousand other lesser isles that 
slumber, many of them in unbroken solitude, upon 
the wavy bosom of those oriental seas, faded from 
our straining vision in the eastern horizon. Then for 
long tedious weeks " morn came and went, and came 
and went, and came, and brought no "land. Our 
vessel was the only object visible on the universe 
of waters, save when, occasionally, some lonely voy- 
ager like ourselves, would come in sight for a few 



THE VOYAGE HOMEWARD. 389 

Lours, and then disappear beneath the line where the 
ocean met the skies. Now, a storm transforms the 
surface of the deep into valleys, and hills crested 
with foam, continually changing places and chasing 
each other in wildest fury. Our close-reefed topsails 
swell almost to bursting; the wind whistles and 
shrieks fearfully through the rigging ; the spray fills 
the air like rain ; ever and anon a huge mountain- 
wave comes rolling, rushing on toward us, threaten- 
ing to ingulf us in its open mouth ; it breaks over 
the vessel, seeming, for the moment, to bury it be- 
yond recovery ; all on deck are drenched in brine ; 
but our little bark rises again, shakes herself from the 
foam, and bravely plunges her head into another, and 
yet another angry surge. You would think, from the 
creaking timbers of the laboring ship, that she was 
immediately going to pieces, or that, lying nearly on 
her side, she would never get upright again. But 
your fears are all groundless. She is accustomed to 
these scenes, and really seems, as if animate, to exult 
in them, for 

" She walks the waters like a thing of life." 

A calm supervenes and you are surprised that the 
ocean can ever become so perfectly smooth. A sea 
of glass is no overwrought comparison. The ship 
lies apparently motionless. Not even a ripple ruffles 
the face of old ocean in repose. He sleeps right 
soundly after the excitement of a storm has passed 
away. It is a most tiresome thing, a calm at sea. 
Everybody is impatient and complaining. In some 
calms, a long, heavy ground-swell, causes the idle sails 
to flap against the masts and yards, and this everlasting 



390 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

flap, flap,, flap, is the most disagreeable, perhaps, of 
all the sounds you hear at sea. These calms are most 
frequent near the equator, and then no breath of air 
mitigates the scorching heat of a vertical sun. Oh 
for a breeze ! The sailors scratch the mast and whis- 
tle for a wind. Sometimes there is such absolute still- 
ness that, as Coleridge says in the "Ancient Mariner," 
the ship looks 

" Like a painted ship 
Upon a painted ocean." 

The albatross, a magnificent bird, generally white, 
wheels about the vessel in its pathway of airy circles, 
on such delicately poised wing — so still while moving 
— that you can look into its large, mild, beautiful 
eye, as it sweeps swiftly past. Occasionally, shoals 
of porpoises dart by, or go tumbling, puffing, and 
blowing in their watery sports, under the bows of the 
vessel ; and perchance, now and then, the well-aimed 
harpoon, hurled by the brawny arm of a sailor, 
pierces one of the herd — you may say, for the Chinese 
call them " water-pigs " — and then fresh meat graces 
your bill of fare for a day or two. At longer inter- 
vals, a monstrous whale comes lumbering clumsily 
along, amazing you at his enormous dimensions. The 
spouting of one reminded me of the sound produced 
by the steam of a large engine. One or two hungry 
sharks usually follow close under the stern of the 
vessel, to feed upon the refuse of meals thrown overT 
board. You may sometimes catch one by a large 
hook baited with a piece of pork ; and when dragged 
on board, the sailors plunge their knives into him 
with so much animus, that you do not require to be 



THE VOYAGE HOMEWARD. 391 

told, a sailor hates a shark with a perfect hatred — 
and not without good reason, when so many have 
lost limbs, and even life, by the voracious jaws of 
these terrible prowlers in the deep. 

We had the southern coast of Africa in view for 
several days before we doubled the Cape of Good 
Hope. We saw hills on hills rising in the distance, 
and sometimes smoke ascending from the intervening 
valleys. By a little effort of the imagination, the 
smoke was fancied to arise from Kaffir villages 
burned by British troops, for the war was then in 
progress. 

Dec. 27. — Our voyage so far has been much longer 
than we anticipated, owing to calms and headwinds, 
but a very pleasant one in other respects, for the 
captain is not only kind and obliging in every way, 
but is also, apparently, a sincere Christian. I have 
preached to the sailors assembled in the cabin, on 
every Sabbath since we sailed, except the first two, 
when I was prevented by sea-sickness. They are 
always very attentive, and at times, appear much 
interested. Although their attendance is purely vol- 
untary, nearly every man in the ship is present. Our 
singing is not very musical, but it would do your 
heart good, to hear these hardy sons of the ocean do 
their best in trying to follow me and catch the tunes. 
Oh, if some good fruit may but spring up from the 
"bread" thus "cast upon the waters" I shall feel 
that this separation from my own chosen and beloved 
field, has not been entirely in vain. Two days ago, on 
Christmas day, we doubled the Cape of Good Hope, 
and, as it was Sunday, the subject of the discourse, 
was the nativity of our Saviour. Our Sabbaths have 



392 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

been, almost without exception, bright and lovely 
days, and the captain allowing no work to be done 
beyond what is absolutely necessary, the same sweet, 
quiet, hallowed stillness pervades our ship, that is so 
observable in a well-regulated Christian community 
on shore. And it is right pleasing to see the sailors 
sitting about the decks in the warm sunshine, all 
cleanly clad, reading the Bible and other good books, 
with which the "Torrent's Library " is well supplied. 
You will not be surprised at this when you are told 
that the principal owner of the ship is Captain [Rich- 
ardson, of New York — President of the American 
Seaman's Friend Society. Captain Copp is also the 
owner of one-fourth of the vessel. Would that the 
same interest in the spiritual and mental improve- 
ment of the sailors, was manifested by the owners 
and masters of every vessel sailing from the ports of 
the United States. 

How strange it seems, to actually have two sum- 
mers in one year. Yet so it was with us. We had 
just passed through one, when we left Shanghai, and 
now, at the Cape of Good Hope, thirty-four degrees 
south of the equator is another — for here, December, 
January and February are always the three months 
of summer. 

But still more strange does it seem, to look above 
you in a clear, moonless night, and miss all the fami- 
liar constellations. It almost makes you feel as if you 
wasre in another world. Even that broad, magnificent 
footlipath of the Almighty — so thronged with suns 
and systems — the " milky way" — has entirely disap- 
peared ; and in its stead, is seen a tiny cluster of 
islets, called " Magellan clouds." 






THE VOYAGE HOMEWARD. 393 

I 

Nor is there in these latitudes any " polar star,'' 
but there are four stars, each nearly equidistant from 
a common centre around which they are seen to 
revolve. That centre is the South Pole, but there is 
no one star at the very point to show its position. 
Those four are the principal stars in the famous con- 
stellation, called the " Southern Cross." 

Eleven days from the Cape of Good Hope, brought 
us to the island of St. Helena, distant about eighteen 
hundred miles — on the 5th of January. In this re- 
gion, the southeast trades blow with such invariable 
steadiness and moderation, that masters of vessels 
avail themselves of the opportunity to have their 
ships thoroughly overhauled and repaired — masts 
and yards sent down and replaced — and the rigging, 
that has become slack from the heavy strains upon it, 
newly tightened, or " set all taut." This all trans- 
pired on the " Torrent," and during these eleven days 
we were sensible of but little more motion than would 
be perceived in a house on land. 



17* 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA — PRISON OF THE FIRST 
NAPOLEON. 

Appearance of the Island from the Sea — Batteries and Fortifications 
— "Ladder Hill" — " Pearce's Revenge" — Jamestown — the "Cas- 
tle " — Promenade— Moat— Lan ding-Place — The Town — View from 
the Anchorage— " The Briars"— Ride to " Longwood "—General 
Descriptions — Volcanic Origin — Flowers, Shrubbery, and Trees — 
Napoleon's Tomb— Old Sally— " Vale of Arno "—Residence of 
Napoleon at "Longwood" — His Fishpond — "New House"— Sandy 
Bay Valley — "Plantation House "—Country Church— Return to 
Town — Rev. Dr. Bertram — Mission Chapel — Second Ride into 
the Country — " Francis' Plain " — " Rose Bower " — Astronomers — 
— " Knollcombe " — Mission Cemetery — Return to Town — Sail from 
the Island. 

We were rapidly approaching St. Helena ; and 
snch was my eagerness to catch the earliest possible 
glimpse of this remarkable island, that you need not 
be surprised when told that I climbed to the main- 
mast-head, and sat there half an hour, straining my 
eyes toward the direction in which it was expected 
to appear. After a while I discovered it in the dim, 
hazy distance, lying like a long, low cloud in the far- 
off horizon. In a clear day it is visible sixty 
miles. 

"We always create in our minds an image of an 
object of which we have heard but have never 
seen. And it is scarcely necessary to add that 



TWO DATS AT ST. HELENA. 395 

our imaginary creation is often very unlike the real 
object. So it was with mine. Perhaps I had not 
read with sufficient care such descriptions of the 
island as are occasionally met with ; but having been 
long accustomed to the terms, " The Rock of St. 
Helena," " a solitary rock in the ocean," I was ex- 
pecting to see a single rock, a mile or two in extent, 
rising from the ocean to a great height, almost per- 
pendicular on all sides, and nearly level on the top. 

It is, in reality, ten and a half miles long, six and 
three-quarters broad, and twenty-eight in circumfer- 
ence. As it gradually becomes more and more 
distinct, its outline, seen from the southeast — the 
direction from which vessels usually approach it — 
bears a striking resemblance to a human figure, lying 
on the-back, with the arms folded across the breast, 
and a cloth thrown over the whole body. Coming 
still nearer, you see its surface broken into hills and 
valleys, jagged precipices, ravines, and gorges. The 
highest point on the island is called " Diana's Peak," 
and is two thousand seven hundred feet above the 
level of the sea. In many places the rocks rise per- 
pendicularly from the ocean ; in others, at a greater 
or less angle of inclination ; and in others still, val- 
leys and ravines run in gentle slopes to the water's 
edge. The general aspect is one of extreme barren- 
ness, though spots of verdure are seen in some places, 
together with here and there clumps of low, thick 
trees, mostly stunted pines. Sailing on the north- 
east, around the bases of two very high, steep, rug- 
ged, barren, conical-shaped hills, the first called 
M Sugar-Loaf," and the second, further on and higher, 
" Flagstaff Hill," whose summits form the feet of the 



396 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

figure — if you choose to keep in mind the idea of 
likeness to a prostrate human form — you soon come 
in sight of batteries and fortifications, built of heavy 
stone masonry, in the sides and on the projections of 
the precipitous rocks, evidently at an immense out- 
lay of labor and expense. Similar ones surmount the 
tops of hills and beetling cliffs, guarding the entrance 
at every point where the island is accessible from the 
sea. Most of these have been dismantled since death 
relieved the British government of their anxious sen- 
tinelship over the formidable exile, by releasing him 
from his captivity. Butyou still see here and there a big 
black gun, frowning down upon you from its rocky nest, 
to remind you that the British lion is still there, and is 
ready to roar again should occasion ever require. 

Passing on opposite the mouth of a ravine, called 
" Hupert's Valley," and around the projecting, bluff 
of "Rupert's Hill," called " Munden's Point," on the 
top of which is a little fort, little Jamestown begins 
to appear, nestling in a deep valley or gorge, between 
two high, barren, precipitous hills — " Rupert's " on 
the left, and " Ladder Kill " on the right. The lat- 
ter is so named from a steep flight of stairs leading 
in a straight line eight hundred feet from the town 
up to the battery and signal-station on the top. It is 
usually ascended by an admirable but very circuit- 
ous carriage-road, which has been dug, and in some 
places blasted in the side of the hill, at a vast expen- 
diture of time, toil, and money. A well-built stone 
wall, on the down-hill side of this road, renders it 
perfectly secure ; but it is overhung at one or two 
points by huge masses of rock, suspended directly 
over the head of the traveller, causing an involun- 



TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA. 397 

tary shudder as he looks at the threatening crags 
above him. A British officer, named Pearce, for- 
merly resident on the island, is said never to have 
passed this spot except at a full gallop, for he had a 
presentiment that one of these rocks would some day 
fall and crush him. Hence, that particular pass is 
called "Pearce's Revenge ;" but the presentiment 
was never fulfilled. 

The first objects that attract your attention on 
drawing near to the anchorage, are "The Castle," as 
it is called, near the water's edge, just at the entrance 
of Jamestown Valley, across which it extends ; and 
just behind it, the neat little stone church, with its 
tapering spire. " The Castle " resembles a long, low 
two-story house, and you would never think of call- 
ing it a castle, unless previously informed that such 
was its name and character. It stands fronting the 
sea, from which a continual surf rolls in, and breaks 
with monotonous music, upon the pebbly shores. A 
solid wall of hewn stone, some ten or twelve feet 
high, forms an effectual barrier to the encroachments 
of the sea, and being forty or fifty feet wide on the 
top, also affords a fine road and promenade. A dry 
moat, scientifically constructed, also walled up on both 
sides with hewn stone, to about the same height, 
separates this promenade or battery from a similar 
space, of about equal width, immediately in front of 
the Castle. The only landing-place is a flight of a 
half dozen stone steps — on which Napoleon first trod 
on his arrival at the island — at the left extremity 
of the battery, which here assumes the appearance 
and character of a long wharf, or, in oriental par- 
lance, huncl) which conveys the idea precisely. You 



398 FIVE TEAKS IN CHINA. 

walk along this road, with high perpendicular rocks 
on your left, and the stone wall facing the sea on 
your right. Crossing the moat on a wooden draw- 
bridge, you see several large cannon, with pyramids 
of ball, and of canister, chain, and grape-shot, placed 
in a regular row. There is also a stove, or furnace, 
ever near at hand, for heating them red-hot when 
required. There are also mortars, with their pyra- 
mids of bomb-shells close by ; and, to complete the 
military aspect of the place, a sentinel, with his red 
coat, white pantaloons, sugar-loaf cap, and brightly- 
polished musket, marches back and forth with slow 
and measured pace. 

Entering the town through an arched gateway in 
the Castle, which, I should mention, is the town resi- 
dence of the governor of the island, you first find 
yourself in a small open space, about sixty yards 
square, with Episcopal church just opposite you. On 
the left is pointed out to you the house in which 
Napoleon passed his first night on the island. By a 
singular coincidence, the same house had been occu- 
pied by the Duke of Wellington, on his return from 
India several years before. Here the square begins to 
contract into a street, which gradually becomes nar- 
rower in its gentle ascent for one or two hundred yards, 
[whenit divides into two — one running on each side of 
the ravine, which extends a mile or more inland. The 
streets are narrow, but well macadamized, and their 
sidewalks are all laid with round paving-stones. The 
latter are seldom walked on, except during wet wea- 
ther, when they serve to keep the feet from the mud ; 
at other times, everybody walks in the middle of the 
street. -The buildings are of stone, and generally two 



TWO DATS AT ST. HELENA. 399 

stories high, very neatly stuccoed with plaster, of 
various shades, from white to dark-brown. This gives 
the town an exceedingly pretty and animated appear- 
ance, to which all the prints and engravings of it I 
have ever seen fail to do justice. There is a public 
garden opening out of the square on the left ; not 
very extensive, as nothing in Jamestown can be, but 
quite well laid out, and containing a fair variety of 
tropical plants, shrubbery, and trees. There are also 
one or two private ones of considerable beauty at the 
inner extremity of the town. In these gardens, I 
observed as most prominent, the pomegranate, the 
palm, plantain, banyan, and some other trees, many 
of which seen from the anchorage, as they are scat- 
tered about, form a pleasing contrast with the pretty 
buildings among which they stand. The valley in 
which the town lies is but five or six hundred yards 
in width, and the snug stores and houses are crowded 
as compactly together as you can well conceive ; not 
less so than the most densely built portions of our 
large cities in the United States. There are some 
very nice shops, with large plate-glass windows, and 
well stocked with every variety of goods, from both 
hemispheres. The prices of everything are enormous, 
except fish and water-cresses, which are very cheap. 
The view of the town from the anchorage, with hills 
rising on each side, and in the back-ground, is highly 
picturesque. A mile and a half distant, and about 
half way to the top of one of these steep hills, is a 
pretty cottage in a verdant spot, called " The Briars." 
It is a sweet little oasis, amid the surrounding rugged- 
ness and sterility, and was occupied by Napoleon 
during the first two months of his captivity, while 



400 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

the house at Long wood was being prepared for his 
reception. On the morning after our arrival we set 
out on horseback to visit the tomb of Napoleon, in 
" Sane Yalley," three miles from town ; and Long- 
wood, a mile and three quarters further on. Your 
road lies for some distance on the side of Rupert's 
Hill, with the valley of Jamestown far beneath you 
on the right. Wherever the hills are very steep, the 
roads cut in their sides are ascended, necessarily, by 
a very zig-zag course, like that of a vessel beating 
against a head wind — if you are enough of a sailor to 
know what that is — consequently you have to " tack 
ship " very often, and sometimes ride five rods to 
gain one. So, on you go, with the mulatto boys who 
act as guides holding to the horses' tails, which are a 
great assistance to them in climbing the hills. Hence 
these boys are said to ride on the horses' tails ! And 
strange to say, so accustomed are the docile animals 
to this novel mode of " carrying double," that they 
seldom think of kicking. 

The island is evidently of volcanic origin, belong- 
ing probably to the latter ages of the secondary, or 
the beginning of the tertiary periods. There is every 
appearance of its having been thrown up by some 
upheaving force, operating at different and perhaps 
distant times, as the consecutive strata of mud-stones, 
lava, and stratified sands and marls, distinctly trace- 
able on almost every hill, clearly indicate. You will 
see at some places, imbedded in the scoriae, large cal- 
cined boulders, made up of concentric laminae, and 
appearing as if, at no very remote period, they had 
been formed by rapid revolutions in the fires of a 
volcano. 



TWO DAYS AT ST. HELENA. 401 

A large species of the cactus, or prickly pear, with 
its beautiful red flowers, grows wild, in rank luxuri- 
ance, throughout the island. So also does the aloe, 
with its thick, narrow, sharp-pointed leaves, six feet 
long, and a tall stem of rich yellow flowers, rising 
fifteen feet high from their midst ; the furze, the scar- 
let geranium, the elegant, pale yellow, yam flower, 
and many other blooming plants, all of which may 
be frequently seen composing the hedges between 
the adjacent possessions of neighboring landholders. 
The principal trees that you see are the cabbage tree, 
the banyan (not the large spreading banyan of India), 
the willow, and a species of stunted pine ; the two 
latter are most abundant, and in many places form a 
delightful shade over your road. These pines are 
far more numerous than any or all other trees on the 
island, and may sometimes be said to compose quite 
a forest. In those situations where trees are exposed 
to the southeast trade-winds, they all have a uniform 
inclination toward the northwest, which gives them 
a singular appearance, as if at the very time while 
you are looking at them they were bending before a 
strong gale, though the wind may be blowing but a 
moderate breeze, which it seldom or ever exceeds. 

At an appointed place, we find waiting for us Cap- 
tain Kennedy, a gentleman to whom we were intro- 
duced the day before, and who politely offered to 
accompany us in our ride over the island. He was 
captain of a company of artillery during the whole 
captivity of Napoleon, and commanded the British 
guard that was present at his exhumation by the 
French deputation under Prince de Joinville, in 1840. 
We could not have been more fortunate in a guide, 



402 FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

for he told us much that we probably could have 
learned from no other source. Soon after he joined 
our party, we came to the " Devil's Punch-Bowl," a 
deep, irregular valley, lined with rocks and lava, but 
containing no green thing. Hiding along the rim of 
it for some little distance, we descended on the oppo- 
site side into " Sane Valley," in all respects a perfect 
contrast to its gloomy neighbor. Here, in a sweet, 
quiet, lovely dale was the tomb of Napoleon. A low, 
black paling incloses a few square rods of green- 
sward, in the middle of which an iron railing sur- 
rounds the open and now empty grave of the imperial 
prisoner. It is covered by an awning in the form of 
a roof, raised about three feet from the ground, and 
is shaded by two willows which stand a few feet from 
the head. 

What a world of images rush upon your mind as 
you stand by that open grave. Lodi — Areola — the 
Pyramids — Marengo — Austerlitz — Hohenlinden — 
Leipsic — yea, and fatal Waterloo, rise before your 
vision. You almost see the serried hosts, the brist- 
ling bayonets, the waving plumes, the floating banners, 
the prancing war-steeds. Hear the roar of those 
cannon — listen to the stirring strains of martial music 
— the roll of drums — the shrill, soul-rousing notes of 
the distant bugle — all drowning alike the siiouts of 
defiance, the exultations of victory, and the shrieks 
of agony and despair. Look at that impetuous 
onslaught ! see that magnificent charge of Murat, 
with his irresistible cavalry ; and Ney, the " bravest 
of the brave !" There ! see yonder that little man — 
the grand master-genius — the moving spirit of all this 
splendid array, of this sublimely terrible " pomp and 



PKISON OF THE FIRST NAPOLEON. 403 

circumstance of glorious war." The pageant van- 
ishes — the vision fades ; and here, on the very spot 
where you now stand, has he often stood — a lone, 
heart-broken exile ; and here he slept the sleep that 
knows no waking. Oh ! ye shadowy phantoms of 
earthly grandeur and glory, and is this all ye have to 
give the most devoted worshipper that ever bowed at 
your shrine? 

You would fain indulge longer in this train of 
reflection, but the clack of " Old Sally," the old 
negro woman who has charge of the place, interrupts 
your reverie. She met us at the gate where we dis- 
mounted from our horses, with, " Good morning, 
gen'lemen; walk in, and see de tomb. One-and- 
sixpence a head, gen'lemen." On reaching the spot, 
we found a flight of wooden steps, leading down into 
the vault, which is ten feet deep, by eight long, and 
four wide. " Walk down into de tomb, gen'lemen ; 
de fee is one-and-sixpence a head. 'Taint for myself; 
it's for de folks in de oder house down yonder : dey 
rents de tomb. I'll go an' git de board, an' show ye." 
So off she. ran, and soon returned with a board, on 
which was pasted a manuscript " bill of fare." We 
by this time descended the steps. "Dar, gen'lemen," 
said Sally, " now you stan' in de bery spot whar de 
great Napoleon lay : he was buried wid his head to 
de Nort', an' his feet to de Sout'. He had on his 
green uniform ; his arms was crossed on his breast 
so (suiting the action to the word, with a consequen- 
tial air) ; an' his cap an' his sword was laid on his 
stomach. He was buried in four coffins : de fust was 
mahogany, de secon' was lead, de t'ird was deal, and 
de fourt' was a black cloff ober de whole, wid gold 



404 FIVE YEAES IN CHINA. 

tassels a hangin' down, an' a stone slab was ober de 
top. He used to come here an' set down under dese 
two willows ; an' one day he got asleep here, an' he 
dreamed his Josephine was buried here ; an' always 
after dat, he said if he died on de islan', he wanted 
to be buried jus' here' in dis bery spot. When dey 
dug him up, dey begun at twelve o'clock in de night, 
an' didn't git done till eight o'clock de next mornin'." 
Here our friend, Captain Kennedy, interrupted her, 
saying, " What's that nonsense you are telling there, 
Sally ? They didn't get through till noon. 7 ' " Wal, 
may be dey didn't till nine or ten o'clock, or some- 
whar along dar." "I tell you it was quite noon 
when they finished." " Wall," rejoined Sally, " you 
ought to know, cap'n, for you was de officer ob de 
day. ISTow, gen'lemen, come an' see de water in de 
spring." This is a natural basin, about two feet in 
diameter, at the foot of a perpendicular rock in the 
side of the hill, just outside the paling, and two or 
three rods from the tomb. The water is beautifully 
clear, and is said to be the best on the island. " Dis 
is de water Napoleon always drunk ; de didn't drink 
no oder water on de islan' ; he had it brought from 
dis bery spring ebry day. De fee, gen'lemen, is one- 
and-sixpence a head." We each drank a tumblerful, 
and it was a luxury I had not tasted for nearly six 
years, having been confined to the offensive creek 
and river water of China, except when we could get 
rain-water, which was not always. Sally ran through 
the several items of information above narrated with 
the mechanical ease and indifference of one who has 
repeated the same story for the thousandth time. 
She laid an emphasis upon the " one-and-sixpence 



PRISON OF THE FIRST NAPOLEON. 405 

a head " which showed she regarded it far more 
necessary than all the rest, and accordingly she lost 
no opportunity of impressing that interesting par- 
ticular upon our memories ; from which we inferred 
that perhaps some of her visitors had occasionally 
forgotten the important lesson. Her anxieties on 
this point being allayed, she said: " Now, gen'lemen, 
please to walk up to dat little house up yonder, an' 
write yer name in de book dar." Which request 
being duly complied with, we remounted our horses, 
and ascending, by a zig-zag path, the steep, grassy 
hill opposite the one by which we came down to the 
tomb, we rode on toward " Longwood," which is a 
mile and three-quarters further. Stopping, if you like, 
for a few minutes at a house of refreshment, on the 
top of the hill — once the residence of Count Montho- 
Ion — you again enter the main road at " Hutt's Gate," 
and ride along a ridge, with the beautiful " Yale of 
Arno" on the right. This enchanting valley, one 
would think, must well sustain the reputation of its 
celebrated namesake in Italy. The charming little 
cottages and villas, embowered in trees and shrub- 
bery, scattered about on knolls and hill-sides; the 
grassy slopes, and dense patches of copsewood ; the 
pretty lawns and meadows, producing abundant 
crops of hay, which is stacked up here and there ; 
the sheep and cattle, feeding quietly, or reposing be- 
neath some beautiful tree, present altogether a most 
lovely scene, and a very striking contrast to the bar- 
ren, rugged sides of the " Devil's Punch-Bowl " and 
"Rupert's Valley," which soon appear in sight, on 
the left of the ridge on which you are riding. You 
soon reach "Longwoocl." Occupying a porter's 



406 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

lodge, at the gate opening into the spacious grounds, 
is an old soldier of Wellington's army at Waterloo. 
Hiding through a wide avenue of pretty greensward, 
in many places well shaded with trees, you come to 
the house in which Napoleon lived and died. It is 
rented, or farmed, by the British Government to a 
person who exacts a fee of two shillings — about half 
a dollar — from each visitor ; and yet the whole place 
is suffered to fall into decay. The house is of one 
story, shaped like an L ; has a high, steep roof, and 
stands with the gable-end — in which is the door, and 
a window on each side — looking toward the road. 
It is now used as a barn ; the glass in the windows 
is broken, the walls and ceiling are defaced, and all 
scratched, chalked, or charcoaled over with the 
names of numerous visitors, who are ambitious of 
notoriety, and can acquire it in no other way than by 
leaving their illustrious autographs in public places. 
This is also the case with the plastered walls of the 
vault in which the distinguished exile was entombed. 
That which was formerly his dining-room is now a 
granary, with a heap of straw in one corner, and the 
place where his table once stood is now occupied by a 
fanning-mill. In this room, also, he died, on a sofa, 
and not on a bed, as usually represented in pictures of 
the scene. A stone was taken at the time, by Count 
Bertrand, from the wall near the head of the sofa, at 
the side of a window, and the vacancy still remains. 
The door leading from this room into his bedroom 
has been walled up, and the latter apartment is now 
used for a stable. At the time of our visit, it was 
tenanted by two horses and four oxen. Are these 
shameful indignities permitted by the British Gov- 



PKISON OF THE FIRST NAPOLEON. 407 

eminent to gratify a petty revenge against their fallen 
enemy? The only thing said to be remaining just as 
Napoleon left it, is what is called his fish-pond. This 
term is apt to mislead one as to its size ; for it is only 
a very small semicircular reservoir or pool, with per- 
pendicular sides of hewn stone, perhaps fifteen feet 
between its two extremities, and about eight feet 
wide. Its form is determined by two concentric 
semicircles, having the ends united by straight walls, 
the space between being filled with water. All the 
central part within the inner semicircle is laid with 
solid masonry. This figure is too geometrically exact 
for any pretension to natural beauty, and was evi- 
dently modelled after some part of a fortification 
where a cannon may stand in the centre, and, revolv- 
ing on a pivot, describe a semicircular curve, which 
would enable it to command, in its sweeping range, 
a very wide extent of country. There is probably a 
technical name that would convey the precise idea in 
a single word, but I am not sufficiently familiar with 
the fiomenclature militaire to give it. If you are, 
you may substitute it for the foregoing bungling 
attempt at description. 

The fish in this pool sickened and died, probably 
from the accidental mingling of some poisonous in- 
gredient with the water, and it is quite affecting to 
read the remark of Napoleon on the occurrence : 
"Everything that I love — everything that belongs 
to me, is stricken. Heaven and man unite to afflict 
me." 

A few rods off stands the "New House," which 
w T as built and furnished at great expense by the Brit- 
ish Government, expressly for their prisoner ; but 



408 FIVE YEAKS IN CHINA. 

for some unknown cause — probably offended pride — 
Napoleon would never set foot within its walls. It 
is of one story, contains a large suite of spacious 
rooms, and is beautifully situated on a gentle decli- 
vity, with a fine view of the ocean in front, which 
seems gradually to ascend like a vast hill, as it 
stretches far away to the west, till it blends with the 
sky; the linejDf the horizon not being visible in the 
dim distance. This house is vacant, and is also 
allowed to go to ruin. 

Returning from " Longwood," you again pas£ along 
the mountainous ridge overlooking the sweet " Yale 
of Arno," and continue your ride on the fine car- 
riage-roads that traverse the island in every direction, 
and are kept in excellent repair by an annual appro- 
priation by the Government. Now you ascend steep 
hills ; some barren and rocky, others clothed with 
verdure and affording excellent pasturage for sheep 
and cattle ; and then you descend into valleys of 
exuberant fertility, having their sides carpeted with 
tall, thick grass, which you see mowers, off there on 
the right, cutting for hay. How natural it looks, 
lying in long lines or swaths across the hillside 
meadows, or spread out to dry, or gathered into 
stacks, such as you often see in a fine grazing country 
at home. Then, again, you cross deep ravines, with 
little streams of limpid water gleaming so merrily in 
the sunshine, as they ripple, and trip, and dash, and 
tumble along over the pebbly bottom ; now under 
the shade of overhanging willows ; now among thick 
beds of watercresses, as if playing hide and seek 
with the sun, in all the wild recklessness of uncon- 
trollable delight. Oh ! what a beautiful picture of 



PRISON OF THE FIEST NAPOLEON. 409 

glad and joyous, gleeful childhood ! You almost 
fancy they are conscious of happiness, and are danc- 
ing, and sparkling, and throwing up their little shin- 
ing drops for very wantonness of overflowing joy. 

Your road is frequently crossed by gates, which 
are the continuations of fences or hedges — the boun- 
dary lines between farms or plantations. You may 
often ride up to these hedges and banks by the road- 
side and eat blackberries in abundance, without leav- 
ing your saddle. Reaching the top of a certain 
ridge, the charming valley of "Sandy Bay" bursts 
all at once upon your sight, and is scarcely, if any, 
less beautiful — some think it more so — than the 
Vale of Arno, which it much resembles in its gen- 
eral features. Looking across this valley to the rug- 
ged, barren hill beyond, you see, about half way up, 
an isolated rock, bearing some likeness to a human 
form ; then, somewhat further on, and nearer the top, 
are three others, all apparently ascending the hill. 
The former is called "Lot's wife;" and the latter, 
"Lot and his two daughters." After stopping a 
while to gaze upon this magnificent panorama, of 
which the boundless ocean fills the background, you 
continue your ride along the side hill, with the valley 
on your left, and soon enter a thick, sombre pine for- 
est, the trees on one side towering up the almost per- 
pendicular steeps above your head; and, on the 
other, flanking the equally precipitous sides far be- 
neath. Emerging from this dark wood, on, on you 
go, with the same ever-changing variety of scene 
before described, till at last you reach the country- 
residence of the governor, " Plantation-House." 

By the roadside stands a large gate, which a por- 
18 



410 FIVE YEARS IN" CHINA. 

ter, coining out of his lodge just within, opens for 
your entrance. The house is a square, two-story, 
stone building, of light-brown, with four windows on 
each side of the front-door, in the lower story, and 
Dine, extending along the wmole front, in the second. 
The grounds are tastefully and elegantly laid out, and 
are filled with the choicest and most beautiful shrub- 
bery, trees, and flowers. It commands a fine view 
of the sea to the northwest, between the hills rising 
on the right and left. On an elevation above, and in 
the rear of the premises is a neat stone church, in the 
Gothic style of architecture. It is called the u coun- 
try church," and was erected for the convenience of 
His Excellency and family, at a cost of twenty-five 
thousand dollars. 

It seems that our obliging friend, Captain Kennedy, 
had, by malice prepense and aforethought, without our 
knowledge or suspicion, deliberately, and with design, 
devised, schemed, planned, and prepared beforehand, 
one of those dangerous snares for unwary travellers, 
called a good dinner, at his neat little cottage, now 
not far distant, to which he next conducted us, where, 
w T ith his hospitable family of wife and daughters, he 
very kindly and agreeably entertained us till we were 
reminded, by the declining sun, that we had yet 
three and a half miles of rugged road to travel, ter- 
minating with that fearful descent of " Ladder Hill," 
before we could reach the residence of our kind host, 
W. Carroll, Esq., formerly for many years United 
States Consul for the island. To George W. Kim- 
ball, Esq., also, the present consul, we were indebted 
for very many kind and special attentions. We ar- 
rived just before dark, and then one of our party — 



PRISON OF THE FIRST NAPOLEON. 411 

the writer — was expected to take tea with the family 
of the Rev. Dr. Bertram, and afterward to give his 
congregation, in the Mission Chapel, some account of 
the wonderful work of God in connection with recent 
events in China. He met a circle of friends at the 
conclusion of the service, and spent an hour longer 
in pleasant converse with these dear disciples of our 
common Saviour, in the "lone, barren isle." Dr. 
Bertram and his family loaded me with messages of 
love to their many friends in the United States, 
whose kindness seems to have made a deep and in- 
delible impression upon their hearts ; and by whose 
timely aid they are enabled to build two new chapels, 
both of which are already commenced. One is ad- 
joining the Mission-house in Jamestown, and the 
other on a beautful site called " Knollcombe," near 
"Rose Bower," two or three miles distant." To this 
spot, by the invitation of Dr. Bertram, on the next 
morning I accompanied him and his assistant, the 
Rev. Hudson R. Janisch. Dr. Bertram had provided 
for me an excellent horse, and away we started, up 
the narrow gorge leading out of the town, overzizzag 
roads, similar to those we travelled yesterday. Again 
you pass in sight of "The Briars," on your left. 
Little vegetation is seen till you reach a place of 
high, grassy, and nearly level table-land, called 
" Francis' Plain," which is used as a parade-ground 
by some of the troops on the island. Off to the 
northeast rises the elevation known as " Halley's 
Mount," so named from the celebrated astronomer 
who came here, nearly two hundred years ago, to ob- 
serve the transit of Yenus. Apropos of astronomers, 
let me here mention that one of my companions, Mr. 



412 FIVE YEARS IN CHINA. 

Janisch, is an own cousin to the equally celebrated 
Prussian astronomer. Professor Encke, of Berlin, the 
discoverer of "Encke's Comet." Halley is also 
doubtless more generally known as the discoverer of 
" Halley's Comet," than from u Halley's Mount," in 
St. Helena ; though during his three years' residence 
here he made many valuable contributions to astrono- 
mical science. We will now leave the stars, and 
proceed on our way across " Francis' Plain," through 
a wood, down the side of a hill, around the upper 
extremity of a grassy ravine, up the opposite hillside, 
about half way to the top, to " Knollcombe," once 
the residence of the deputy-governor of the island. 
This delightful place, embracing several acres, seems 
to have been reserved, through a variety of fortunes, 
by a chain of singular providences, for its present use, 
and is but a short distance from " Kose Bower," 
where the nucleus of the society in this neighborhood 
was first formed. The material for a country church 
and parsonage is already on the ground, and in one 
corner of the farm is a lovely plot of sloping green- 
sward, surrounded by trees, and set apart for the mis- 
sion cemetery. It is one of the most beautiful and 
suitable spots for such a purpose on the whole island, 
<»f which it is near the centre. Returning to town, I 
bade our kind friends farewell, with unfeigned sad- 
ness of heart, and soon after, repairing to our ship, 
we spread our canvas to the breeze, and sailed away 
Hum St. Helena. Long and sorrowfully did I sit on 
i!.e quarter-deck, and gaze on its outline, becoming 
t. very moment less distinct, while its intensely inter- 
i siing scenes and associations, and its newly-formed 
friendships, are pencilled upon my memory and 



PKISON OF THE FIRST NAPOLEON. 413 

graven in my heart in lines which nothing can efface 
till the dim haze of death shall, in like manner, ob- 
scure the horizon of the soul. The sim has gone 
down ; the pale moon peers mournfully through the 
clouds ; the land has disappeared ; and here we are 
once more a floating speck, with only the firmament 
above, and this wide, wide world of waters all 
around. 



I 



THE END. 



